Where players took on the role of characters in Crusader Kings 2, they step into the shoes of whole nations in Europe Universalis 2. But the Dark Ages ended, and at the start of the Renaissance the world began to change rapidly fiefdoms, city-states and provinces began to give way to larger nations, with centralised governments. Crusader Kings 2 was able to win so many hearts because it focuses on personalities - the dynasty established by the player, with individual characters taking central stage. They're still pretty different games, though. The publisher has been very clever in developing a tool which allows Crusader Kings 2 fans to import their save files, so they can start their game with a world layout they themselves helped build. Or wasn't, anyway, because Crusader Kings 2 was something of a breakout hit, setting gaming social media as much ablaze as is possible for such a hardcore game.Įuropa Universalis 4 is Paradox's very next internally-produced game and suddenly it has a whole new potential fanbase to cater for - those who first delved into grand strategy with Crusader Kings 2. But it's always been kind of niche although history boffins love its catalogue, it's not the sort of publisher whose name gets bandied about on Twitter. Paradox games have always sold pretty well the PC-centric publisher supports a busy release schedule and seems to be in fine financial health.

In that sense, neither game is that different from several others Paradox has produced over the last decade, but Crusader Kings 2 is a special case: it went kind of viral. Both are products of Paradox Interactive's flagship internal studio, and both are strategic games allowing players to rewrite history according to their whims - and skill. It's difficult to talk about Europa Universalis 4 without talking about Crusader Kings 2. Tremble before the mighty empire of Sweden.

Europa universalis 4 end date