Europa Universalis IV

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Lore & Background

The game includes different bookmarked starting dates called 'scenarios', with the world state, borders and events reflecting their historical equivalents for each. The earliest scenarios begin on 11 November 1444, one day after the Christian defeat at Varna, while the latest scenario begins on 21 September 1792, the end of the French monarchy. The player can also choose any day within the game's time span as a starting date. The game itself is an interactive map of Earth divided into the provinces that compose nations. Each of these provinces contribute to their country either positively or negatively, as provinces can both provide resources to a nation and serve as a point of unrest and rebellion. At the beginning of the game many provinces are considered 'uncolonized' and are meant to represent possible land colonizable by other nations. The gameplay requires the player to lead a nation by finding a balance of military, diplomacy, and economy. The player does so through their choices as sovereign of their nation, and the spending of resources available to them: prestige, power projection, stability, gold (ducats), manpower, legitimacy for monarchies, republican tradition for republics, devotion for theocracies, horde unity for steppe nomads, meritocracy for celestial empires, and monarch power (administrative, diplomatic, and military).

In Their Own Story

In the year 1444, the Ottoman Sultan Murad II gazes over the walls of Constantinople, knowing that the once-mighty Byzantine Empire is but a shadow. His advisors whisper of opportunities in the Balkans and beyond, while in the west, the kingdoms of France and England are locked in the final throes of the Hundred Years' War. Across the Atlantic, the Aztec Empire remains unaware of the storm gathering beyond the horizon. The world teeters on the edge of transformation, and the choices of a single ruler can echo through centuries.

Reader's Guide

Europa Universalis IV was forged by Paradox Development Studio, the Swedish wizards behind a dynasty of historical grand strategy games. Launched on August 13, 2013, for Windows (with later ports to Mac and Linux), it earned critical acclaim for its bottomless depth and replayability, though reviewers warned that the learning curve is as steep as the Alps. The game has been supercharged by a parade of expansions—'Conquest of Paradise,' 'Art of War,' 'Common Sense,' and many more—each injecting fresh mechanics and historical spice. Under the hood, the Clausewitz Engine (shared with other Paradox titles) grinds through the colossal calculations needed to simulate global trade, battlefield carnage, and backroom diplomacy. And the modding community? They've turned the game into a sandbox of wonders, with total conversion mods like 'Extended Timeline' (stretching history from antiquity to the far future) and 'Voltaire's Nightmare' (zooming in on Europe’s chaotic patchwork of states).

Did You Know?

• The game was teased under the codename 'Project Truman' before its announcement at Gamescom in August 2012.
• Early design discussions for Europa Universalis IV began shortly after the December 2010 release of Divine Wind, the final DLC for Europa Universalis III.
• The game has sold over 4 million copies as of February 2024.
• In September 2020, Paradox Tinto, a newly formed division of Paradox based in Barcelona, Spain, took over the development of the game led by leader Johan Andersson.
• In March 2021, Paradox unveiled an optional subscription service to play the game's vast library of DLCs without buying each expansion.