Europa Universalis IV
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''Europa Universalis IV'' is a 2013
grand strategy Grand strategy or high strategy is a state's strategy of how means can be used to advance and achieve national interests. Issues of grand strategy typically include the choice of primary versus secondary theaters in war, distribution of resource ...
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in the ''
Europa Universalis ''Europa Universalis'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published in 2000 by Strategy First. Development The game was originally based on a French board game of the same name by Philippe Thibaut that ...
'' series, developed by
Paradox Development Studio Paradox Development Studio (PDS) is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series ''Europa U ...
and published by
Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...
as a sequel to ''
Europa Universalis III ''Europa Universalis III'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in January 2007, and was later ported to OS X by Virtual Progra ...
'' (2007). The game was released on 13 August 2013. It is a strategy game where players can control a nation from the
Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
through the early modern period (1444–1821), conducting
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
,
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
,
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
,
colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
, and
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
fare.


Gameplay

The game has been formed to begin historically, with events occurring when they did in history. The game itself is an interactive map of
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
divided into the
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
s 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. The gameplay requires the player to lead a nation by finding a balance of
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
,
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
, and
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
. The player does so through their choices as sovereign of their nation, and through the spending of resources available to them: prestige, power projection, stability, gold (ducats), manpower, legitimacy for
monarchies A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), ...
, republican tradition for
republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
s, devotion for theocracies, horde unity for steppe nomads, meritocracy for celestial empires, and monarch power (administrative, diplomatic, and military). Players can choose to conquer the world by military might, become a colonial superpower, establish trade dominance, etc. as one of over 500 different nations. These nations range alphabetically from
Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
to Zuni. The game is a sandbox environment, and while there is no strict rule on winning the game, the game of the player is over when the player's nation is removed, or annexed, from the map.
Diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
is a large aspect of the game, as creating
alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
s, (or
vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...
s and
tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
), improving opinions, and preventing defensive coalitions are vital to a player's survival. Espionage can also be employed against enemy states in order to claim their territory, or incite rebellion in their provinces, along with other dubious ends. Combat can be waged on both land and sea, during which the game attempts to simulate real world factors such as morale, discipline, varying unit types with associated strengths and weaknesses, competency of leaders, terrain and supply lines. Trade is also an important part of the game, where the world is divided into many trade nodes and trade flows through each of the nodes and can be collected by merchants. Many major
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
s, such as
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
,
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
,
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
, and
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
are present in the game and can provide distinct bonuses to their practitioners. Players can employ missionaries to convert their provinces or can engage in policies of universal religious freedom. For example, the Catholic faith makes use of the
Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
, which can allow a nation to have control over the Pope or to use their influence for other rewards. Native American and Aboriginal religions are also present in the game, most commonly utilizing a system of selecting a bonus for the lifetime of the present monarch. Furthermore, many of the world's institutions, from
feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
to
industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
, are also present in the game. Institutions normally begin around a certain year, and begin spreading through provinces. The rate of institution spread and where the institution spawns is malleable to player actions. The institution coincides with increasing the price of technology, as the lack of an embraced institution increases the cost of corresponding technological levels. Once reaching requirements, usually consisting of a ducat cost and a certain amount of institution present in the player's provinces, the player is able to embrace the institution. An embracement gives an institution-specific nation bonus, as well as purging any technological maluses that the lack of institution may have incurred. Technological advancements are invested in over time, and require the expense of monarch points. They provide benefits to the nation as detailed below: * Administrative technology unlocks advancements such as increased productivity, new forms of government, new buildings, and the national idea system. * Diplomatic technology unlocks advancements such as naval units, improvements in trade, new buildings, and improved colonial expansion. * Military technology unlocks advancements such as new types of land units, improved unit morale, combat tactics, and new buildings. Gameplay is influenced by random events that arise every so often for the player. These events can be either helpful or harmful. Some of these random events are driven by an individual country's history, while some can apply to any country and serve generally to enhance the "flavor" of the game. Some events are also motivated by various institutions that occur throughout the history of the game, such as the Industrial Revolution. Players can choose to play single player mode versus the AI, or multiplayer over a LAN or the Internet against a mix of human and AI opponents. Single player also has the option of "Ironman" mode, which locks several settings such as difficulty, and removes the control of saving the game from the player. This means that any mistakes are irreversible. It is, however, the only way to receive any of the game's many
achievements Achievement may refer to: *Achievement (heraldry) *Achievement (horse), a racehorse *Achievement (video gaming), a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters See also * Achievement test for student assessment * Achiever, a personality type ...
.


Development

Early design discussions for ''Europa Universalis IV'' began shortly after the December 2010 release of ''Divine Wind'', the final DLC for ''
Europa Universalis III ''Europa Universalis III'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in January 2007, and was later ported to OS X by Virtual Progra ...
'' with development, based on the Clausewitz Engine, beginning in earnest in about September 2011. It was first announced to the public in August 2012, to coincide with a showing at that year's
Gamescom Gamescom (stylized as gamescom) is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 2018, it has been organised by ''game – Verband der deutschen Games-Branche'' (English: Associa ...
, after having been teased under the codename of "Project Truman". Throughout the game's development,
Paradox Development Studio Paradox Development Studio (PDS) is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series ''Europa U ...
released weekly "developer diaries" via their online forums, in which they detailed some feature of the game's development. These included information about design philosophy, game mechanisms that were being implemented, and features from ''Europa Universalis III'' that were being removed. During its development, ''Europa Universalis IV'' had a greater priority given to stability and quality control than had previous games in the series. There had previously been a perception that Paradox's games were not worth buying until several updates or expansions had fixed stability issues. Studio CEO, Fredrik Wester, described this perception as being like "a slap in the face", motivating them to improve. Another of Paradox's major goals was to retain the depth and complexity of their earlier grand strategy games, while making them easier for a player to interact with. Prior to release, a preview version of the game was showcased through
Let's Play A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or screenshots accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a video game, often including commentary and/or a camera view of the gamer's face. A Let's Play differs from a video game walkthrough or strat ...
s and via a multiplayer event for journalists. A playable demo of the game was released on
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
on 9 August 2013 with the game itself being released on 13 August. Following its release, development of the game has continued under the same model that Paradox had previously used successfully for ''
Crusader Kings II ''Crusader Kings II'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Set in the Middle Ages, the game was released on February 14, 2012, as a sequel to 2004's '' Crusader Kings''. On ...
'', with paid DLCs being released alongside, and helping to fund, additional free patches which add more features to the base game. , eighteen expansions have been released for the game alongside many minor DLCs offering additional graphical or musical options. In September 2020, ''Paradox Tinto'', a newly formed division of Paradox, took over development of the game led by leader Johan Andersson. This team released the expansions ''Leviathan'' and ''Origins'', while also focusing on bug fixes and eventually ending development on the game.


Expansions and mods

A number of
downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
(DLC) have been released for the game. All DLCs are optional and may be applied to the base game in any combination. The most significant DLCs come in the form of expansions and immersion packs. Expansions on one hand, bring broader and considerable changes to the game as they introduce new and improved gameplay mechanics along with many kinds of flavor and various balance tweaks. While immersion packs on the other hand, are expansions of a smaller scale as they focus on specific regions to bring them better to life by granting more flavor. There are also flavor packs (which add new events and minor mechanisms, usually specific to one nation), music packs (which add more backing music) and cosmetic packs (which affect unit models, portraits, and the map). There are also three e-books which have no impact on the game itself, but coincided with the release of expansions. In March 2021, Paradox unveiled an optional subscription service to play the game's vast library of DLC without buying each individual expansion. Expansions are often accompanied by coinciding free patches to the game, which may adjust existing mechanisms or add new ones in the theme of the expansion.


Mods

Aside from the official expansion packs, third-party
mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
s are available on sites such as the
Steam Workshop Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to distributing and offering third ...
. The mods can change the game's setting, add or remove features and game mechanisms, add new land masses to the "random new world" generator, and make graphical improvements. Popular mods include "Extended Timeline", which expands the game's scope from 2 AD to the year 9999, the ''
Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'' adaptation "A Song of Ice and Fire" and ''
The Elder Scrolls ''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of Action role-playing game, action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on Nonlinear gameplay, free-form gameplay in an ...
'' "Elder Scrolls Universalis", to complete overhauls like "MEIOU & Taxes" and fantasy total conversions such as "Anbennar".


Reception

''Europa Universalis IV'' was met with generally favourable reviews, receiving a score of 87/100 on aggregate website
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Critics praised the improvements from ''Europa Universalis III'', especially the new mechanisms and graphics. T.J. Hafer of
PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
described the game as an "engrossing simulation that conquers the common ground between your average ''
Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X video game in the ''Civilization'' series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on September 21, 2010, on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on Linux on June 10, 2014. In ...
'' player and the long-time devotees of grand strategy". Negative feedback focused on the tutorials, combat mechanisms and bugs. Nicholas Pellegatta acknowledged these bugs and other issues were likely to be addressed in later patches and expansions. In 2013 ''Europa Universalis IV'' won "Best Strategy" and "Best Historical" in Game Debate's 2013 awards. It was nominated for "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year" at the 2014 D.I.C.E. Awards. The 2021 expansion ''Leviathan'' was the worst-rated title on the Steam platform at launch, with only 7% positive reviews. Players complained about a multitude of bugs and untested or incomplete features. From September 30 to October 7, 2021, Europa Universalis IV was available for free on the
Epic Games Store The Epic Games Store is a digital video game storefront for Microsoft Windows and macOS, operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as both a website and a standalone launcher, of which the latter is required to download and play gam ...
.


Sales

As of February 2014, ''Europa Universalis IV'' had sold over 300,000 copies. By January 2016, over 900,000 games were registered on Steam. As of 21 June 2016, over 1 million copies have been sold. As of February 2021, the game has over 2 million owners.


Pricing adjustments

In May 2017, Paradox Interactive normalized the prices of the game worldwide and its other products to account for the games being cheaper than intended in many non-western nations, just weeks before the annual summer Steam sale. This has led to massive backlash and boycotts by people from the affected nations, including a massive increase in negative user reviews on Steam in the following weeks. Later on 22 June Paradox CEO, Fredrik Wester, announced that the prices would be returned to previous levels after the Steam summer sale and claimed they would try to reimburse anyone who bought their products during the time of the price adjustment.


Spin-offs

In May 2014, Paradox released a book, ''Europa Universalis IV: What If? the Anthology of Alternate History'', a collection of short stories inspired by the game and its time period, including one by
Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed ...
. The book was released as an ebook, as DLC for the game, and as a physical edition (). In May 2018, at their PDXCon convention, Paradox announced that
board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...
s were being developed based upon four of their franchises, stating that they were on a "mission to expand the IP". The ''Europa Universalis'' game (eventually named ''Europa Universalis: the Price of Power'') was designed by Eivind Vetlesen of Aegir Games and has a solo mode by David Turczi. Jonathan Bolding of
PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
described a preview version as "something between a high player count
Twilight Imperium ''Twilight Imperium'' is a strategy board game produced by Fantasy Flight Games in the genre of science fiction and space opera. It was designed by Christian T. Petersen and was first released in 1997. The game is in its fourth edition (2017), ...
and
A Game of Thrones ''A Game of Thrones'' is the first novel in ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on August 1, 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award and was nominated for both ...
with a dash of
Napoleon in Europe ''Napoleon in Europe'' (abbreviated ''NiE'') is a board wargame produced by Eagle Games in 2001 in games, 2001. It combines elements of economics, politics, and military strategy. The map for the game was illustrated by the artist Paul Niemeyer. ...
". No release date has been specified, but the game is expected to release in mid to late 2022.


See also

*
List of grand strategy video games This is an index of grand strategy video games, sorted chronologically. Information regarding date of release, developer, platform, setting, and notability is provided when available. The table can be sorted by clicking on the small boxes next ...
*
List of Paradox Interactive games This is a list of video games developed, published and/or distributed by video game publisher Paradox Interactive. Published games Developed games Cancelled and unreleased games Several games announced by Paradox as being in development have ...
*
List of historical video games The historical video game belongs to a video game genre in which stories are based upon historical events, environments, or people. Some historical video games are simulators, which attempt an accurate portrayal of a historical event, civilizati ...


References


External links

* {{Paradox development studio games 2013 video games Age of Discovery video games Historical simulation games Grand strategy video games Government simulation video games Linux games MacOS games Paradox Interactive games Real-time strategy video games Video games with Steam Workshop support Video game sequels Video games developed in Sweden Video games set in the 15th century Video games set in the 16th century Video games set in the 17th century Video games set in the 18th century Video games set in the 19th century Video games with expansion packs Windows games Video games set in the Byzantine Empire Video games set in the Ottoman Empire