Indie RPG Knight’s Path Faces Criticism Over Similarities to Kingdom Come and Representation Remarks
- Sagar Mankar
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Knight's Path, an indie action RPG set in a medieval world inspired by the Holy Roman Empire, has found itself at the center of controversy following comments made by its developers about LGBTQ representation in the game.
The drama began on January 20 when developers Jan Tichota and Aamn Chahrour released the first gameplay trailer for their story-driven RPG. The trailer quickly went viral on Twitter, racking up 3 million views and generating significant buzz in the gaming community.
However, what should have been a celebratory moment for the indie team quickly turned sour as the game faced accusations of copying Kingdom Come Deliverance, followed by backlash over their stance on LGBTQ content.
The visual similarities between Knight's Path and Warhorse Studios' Kingdom Come: Deliverance franchise are hard to ignore. Many viewers noted that apart from scenes featuring dragons and giant snails, most stills from the trailer could easily be mistaken for screenshots from the Kingdom Come games. The developers have strongly denied any copying, explaining that both games simply draw from the same historical sources.
The developers explained, “We have a lot of respect for Kingdom Come: Deliverance and are genuinely grateful for how it helped show the Middle Ages as they actually were. The same goes for projects like Manor Lords, Half Sword, and Blight: Survival. Knight’s Path, even as a low fantasy world, comes from the same place of respect for history, medieval architecture, and armor. Any similarities do not come from copying, but from drawing from the same real-world past.”
The team went on to share in-progress artwork demonstrating their research process, noting that elements like hounskull bascinets are based on real historical helmets from the same time period. They also mentioned working closely with ClippyMagic to ensure their architecture remained grounded and authentic to the period, drawing inspiration from their home regions of Czechia and Germany.
This defense seemed measured and rooted in historical respect, but the situation escalated when the developers addressed questions about romance options.
When asked if Knight’s Path would include LGBTQ relationships, the developers replied, “We care about gaming and fun, not modern agendas.”
This response sparked immediate outrage across social media. Critics were quick to point out the hypocrisy in this statement, particularly given the fantasy elements already present in the game. If dragons and gigantic snails can exist in this supposedly historically grounded world, why draw the line at LGBTQ relationships?
The controversy deepened when observers noted that Amelie, the game's first revealed romance option, appears with distinctly modern makeup including mascara, false eyelashes, blush, and lipstick. These are all modern inventions that would not have existed in period-accurate Holy Roman Empire aesthetics.
Even Larian Studios' director of publishing joined the conversation, sarcastically asking if snail romance would be available in the game.
It is worth noting that Kingdom Come: Deliverance itself did not feature LGBTQ romance, though its sequel introduced an optional gay romance with Hans after fan requests. Meanwhile, games like Dispatch, which only features heterosexual romance options, avoided similar controversy by simply not making inflammatory statements about representation.
Knight's Path doesn’t have an official release date yet and is currently listed as “To be announced” on its Steam page. It’s planned for PC via Steam with full controller support, but no other platforms have been confirmed at this time. That said, there's a free concept demo available right now called Knight's Path: The Tournament. It came out on December 12, 2023, and lets you try out the early combat ideas and progression, definitely worth checking if you want a taste before the full game.