Dynastic, Fantastic: Crusader Kings 2

Quintin mentioned this in his round-up of the second day of events at GamesCom 2010, but it warrants a post all of its own. Paradox have announced Crusader Kings II, a sequel to the quietly successful historical grand strategy, Crusader Kings. The success of the original rested on its complexity, and the unusual model of play: it was based around dynasties within Medieval Christian Europe, rather than specific nations. Managing individual characters, the lords of your realm and your own family, were at the heart of the game. This creates quite an open-ended sandbox for management and strategic experimentation, which is something Crusader Kings II should build on fairly significantly, with new depth to the characters, and much more engagement with religion and the church, which is obviously a motive force within the game's world. Anyway, don't get too excited because it's not out until early 2012. We should have more information on this quite soon.