Following in Henry’s footsteps: KCD fans flock to real-life Bohemian locations
The video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance (KCD) has proved to be a boon for tourism in Central Bohemia. The game’s realistic depiction of 15th-century life in Bohemia has led to an influx of foreign and domestic tourists visiting real-life locations featured in the game. And the local authorities are doing their best to sustain the interest.
After numerous efforts to try to get tourists out of Prague to the country’s regions, visitors themselves are now searching for the real-life locations where KCD’s quests take place. The interest has put the spotlight on Rataje nad Sázavou (Rattay), Sázava (Sasau), and Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg) which are all featured in KCD. The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Sedlec and the nearby ossuary in Kutná Hora have seen visitor numbers double.
Statistics indicate that KCD fans tend to stay longer at monuments than typical tourists, often engaging in historically themed activities featured in the game.
A dedicated project, "KCD Live," has been created to offer immersive experiences, including guided tours of the medieval locations, enabling visitors to follow in the footsteps of the protagonist, Henry.
According to Anna Lánská, coordinator of the KCD Live project, data from a mobile operator confirms that visits to locations featured in the game have risen sharply.
“Based on the mobile operator’s research, visits to these sites increased by up to 300 percent among people aged 18 to 25 — the youngest age group,” she told Czech Radio.
The project’s website attracted around 50,000 visitors from 65 countries last year. Some of them traveled to Malešov, near Kutna Hora, which appears in both the first and second game. Lanska says real-life tours and themed experiences are a powerful attraction –fans want to experience the game in a real life setting.
“The gaming attractions that we offer here at Malešov –i.e. our escape game at the fortress and the interactive tour there attracted around 5,000 visitors last year,” she says.
When Malešov hosted the first ever KCD fan festival last September it attracted 2,500 visitors from across Europe and the US.
This year KCD Live is planning more events for gaming tourists, says project initiator Ondřej Slačálek
“We’ve gained a new partner — Sázava, where visitors will be able to tour the monastery. The Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region is also preparing an exhibition focused on the overlap between the game world and the real-life setting.”
Project organizers are now discussing a new cycling trail and tourist route that would link locations from the first and second games with the surrounding countryside.
“The idea came from local gaming enthusiasts. They proposed a cycling route that would start in Rataje and lead through various locations all the way to Malešov,” Slačálek explains.
Information boards with historical context will be installed along the route. If all goes according to plan, the cycling trail could open early next year.
Since the release of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II in 2025, more than 4 million copies of the game have sold worldwide.
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