Project Zomboid
Project Zomboid
Game
Game2013
Europa Universalis IV
Developer Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tinto
Europa Universalis IV is a 2013 grand strategy video game in the Europa Universalis series, developed and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Europa Universalis III (2007). The game was released on 25 August 2013 for Windows, OS X, and Linux. It is a strategy game where players can control a nation leading up to and during the early modern period of history. Players navigate their nations through trade,… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
534 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
65
Fresh
292 positive · 157 negative
95% range 61–69%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 292 | 157 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 26 | 8 | 35 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 6 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
60,080 of 69,106 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Deep, rewarding grand strategy, but DLC costs and business model draw heavy criticism.
Players overwhelmingly praise Europa Universalis IV as a deep, rewarding grand strategy experience with immense replay value. Many describe it as the best in the series, even after the release of EU5, citing its finished, balanced state and the way diplomacy, economy, and warfare interlock. [3][7][8]
However, the DLC model is a major point of contention. Many players criticize the high cost and the practice of locking essential mechanics behind numerous paid expansions, calling it predatory and greedy. Some also allege that Paradox has shown a lack of care for existing customers and has made controversial historical references. [27][28][30][31][33][34][29][32]
Praised Deep grand strategy · Replay value · Historical immersion
Criticised DLC pricing and model · Essential mechanics locked behind DLC · Alleged lack of care for customers
Summary drafted by an AI model from the 36 reactions it cites ([n] links open each post), then checked by code: every paragraph cites real posts and every quote is verbatim. Written Oct 9, 2026. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Europa Universalis IV sits at 65% positive across 449 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Europa Universalis IV was met with very favourable reviews, receiving a score of 87/100 on aggregate website Metacritic. Critics praised the improvements from Europa Universalis III, especially the new mechanisms and graphics. T. J. Hafer of PC Gamer described the game as an "engrossing simulation that conquers the common ground between your average Civilization V 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…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 534 · most liked firstFeels frustratingly like sitting inside the first game of Europa Universalis IV the dumbest YouTuber has ever played
negative · AI labelView post →Paradox games are like the Holy Roman Empire of the gaming industry. Instead of making a complete, centralized, sovereign game they leave the emperor, "Austria", the base game controlling 40 different DLC princes and 40 flavor pack bishoprics which all add marginal amounts of content, and all cost $19.99 to reel in. Tutorials will pretend that the game is fully centralized, much like how historical maps show "Holy Roman Empire" and don't bother with all the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ inside. Different DLC have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As I write this review, the next title (EU5) is slated to release tomorrow and I felt compelled to write a review and pay homage to the greatest strategy game of all time before I must say goodbye. This game is so much more than just a map painter, it's a an escape to a different world, a glimpse from a time long gone, a strategy sandbox where you can write history in so many different ways. For many of us, the year 1444 has become as familiar as our own birthdays, the borders and rulers of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Negative review solely for the practice of spreading out essential mechanics across various DLCs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Too many DLC's and too expensive. Unless you absolutely want to play this game wait untill it is on a massive discount. Otherwise, skip it. Paradox is really out of control with how they make their products and monetize them.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love the game. I have spent thousands of hours playing it and would definitely recommend it. That said, DLC pricing is steep. Even with bundles and promotions, especially now that EU5 has been released, Paradox could simplify and consolidate older DLCs into clearer bundles. I am giving a thumbs down due to Paradox’s ongoing lack of care for existing customers (see Surviving Mars Relaunched) and other practices that have piled up over the years. At this point, no Paradox-published game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love the game, cannot recommend with current dlc policy this game and every other paradox game, in addition there are many things that should be fixed before they move on but now just wont. Dont care enough to write more
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The man they call a racist and genocidal figure is none other than Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, to whom our entire nation is deeply grateful. These slanderous claims and accusations are a direct insult to the Turkish community. If you remain silent and fail to take action against this, do not expect any revenue, player base, or support from Türkiye.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I started playing this game in 2019, I've enjoyed every minute of the 1043 hours I've played of it. The cost of entry was too high then--it's even more so now. This remains one of the most inaccessible games ever made to obtain legally. Although it is once of the best gaming experiences I have had it's a predatory model. Biblical Greed that keeps features added in DLC from 2014 fully priced and either not incorporated or included in any sale revision. Aside from the City Skylines series, this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game, but the DLC is egregiously overpriced and who wants to pay for a monthly subscription for a single player game? Most of it should be included as free updates anyway
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Europa Universalis IV is the hit sequel to the mega flop that was Europa Universalis V. Paradox learned from their mistakes when making EU5, and released the perfect game EU4. Mission trees, coherent gameplay, flavour, EU4 has it all. Big step up from EU5 where the game doesn't even run good. GG!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Anbennar. a pike-and-shot fantasy total conversion for Europa Universalis IV which is so much better than the base game that I think 75% of my hours in that game are actually Anbennar.
positive · AI labelView post →If you're wondering which Europa Universalis game to play, this is still the best option. There's a reason EU4 generally has more people playing it on average than EU5 Unlike pretty much every other Paradox game, EU4 is a finished, complete, balanced, stable product. There will be no more updates, which sounds like a bad thing but given how almost every other Paradox game that isn't CK3 is being broken for months by poorly planned DLC and updates (Stellaris, Vicky 3), is unfinished (EU5) or is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paradox owns my soul after how much of their games ive played but i must say this game is way better then EU5
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best map painter even 13 years after release. Every minute of my life spent playing this game was worth it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best grand Strategy games, 10/10 for everyone who hates interacting with women
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let me get this straight, if i want Art of War I now have to rebuy the game because its considered so neccessary its included in the game now, but not the version i bought years ago. This company hates its long time customers.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They've added a 3rd party launcher and forced a new privacy and user agreement on owners to let them harvest your data. Also, instead of decent updates like most games, expect to pay the cost of a new, decent game for each of a dozen expansions that adds some of the basic features explained in those youtube tutorials you probably had to watch to learn how to play. What you end up with for the base game alone is actually rather shallow On top of that, if you're looking for a game that lets you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish EU5 had the same punch but right now it doesn't. EU4 is a gift to the grand strategy genre that makes other "strategy" games look like checkers. It's a lake with some rough edges, but it has an unimaginable depth. The best part, is like DayZ to ARMA, you get Anbennar as a secondary reason to purchase EU4.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Europa Universalis IV is, at its core, an excellent grand strategy experience, deep, rewarding, and still one of the best digital kriegsspiel style sandboxes out there. The way diplomacy, economy, and warfare interlock makes it genuinely satisfying to learn and master, and it’s the kind of game you keep coming back to for years. But it’s hard to ignore the business model: the sheer volume and cost of DLC, combined with a subscription just to access what arguably feels like the “complete”…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →And excellent game. I've played well over 2000 hours, and it never fails to impress.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have the base game with no mods, and I think this video game is one of my favorite games ever made. Opening the main menu and realizing I can play as literally any country/tribe across the entire globe blew my mind. I played as Korea and Colonized all of Australasia and the pacific islands, conquered Japan and started to colonize the western coast of the Americas all in my first game was life-changing. I've played as the Aztecs, trying desperately to unify (via conquest) central America…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like staring at maps and history. If you like staring at maps and history this might be the game for you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you have fun expelling minorities, looking at spreadsheets, crying about having no manpower, and not understanding 80% of the game for the first 100 hours, this game will be the best thing you will ever play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New player experience: load up a campaign, stare at screen for an hour clicking different menus (understanding nothing), close game, look up EU4 beginners guide on youtube, watch tutorials for 10 hours, finally understand a portion of the game, start having fun. Steep learning curve, but worth it in my opinion. Be prepared to seek out third party beginner guides though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Words alone are not enough to describe what this game has meant to the community. Life long friendships have come out of this game. I have a feeling that many future statesman, generals, and world leader will have grown up playing this game. I just want to thank the developers and more importantly the EU4/ EU5 community for making this series so enjoyable. I have played EU5 and I truly think it is the most advanced historical strategy game yet. With the integration of Populations and the great…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll start by saying I wish Steam would allow the option of a Neutral review, rather than just up or down. I'd give this a Neutral if I had the option. I'm giving the review with only a small amount of time played because I am familiar with the series already and the crux of my comments don't really have anything to do with the gameplay. Although I will say that while the graphics were an upgrade from 3, the interface is ugly and absolutely horrible. As far as the nuts and bolts of the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very pleased to share Parodox's Educator's Guide for Europa Universalis IV (that I wrote) is now available for all. EUIV is a challenging game & I spent considerable time breaking down exactly how I'd use it in history classes in hopes the many interested educators out there will give it a try. 1/ 🗃️
positive · AI labelView post →I hate these Turk-Haters.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paradoxes best game. Dlc could do with a price drop though. Ignore the recent review bombs, It's the entire nation of Turkey angry about a discord moderator (yes, really)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game itself is fun, but the game features being broken up into (as of 2026) 13 different Expansion DLC packs, not to mention the Immersion DLC packs, completely ruins the game. Plus, the DLC is absurdly overpriced for what is actually added, and sales of more than 50% are extremely rare. Paradox the developers made a deep and fascinating game, and Paradox the publishers ruined it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played for 4044 hours since 2013 and I've played almost all the countries, whether it's on hard or custume, I've played until late at night, and on 03/11/2025 we wanted to play with friends one last time, so we'll say goodbye to EU4 and then move on to EU5.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →risk on steroids. Simpler than EU5, but still deep while more accessible. Absolutely worth playing in 2026.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Eu4 is my favorite video game and I have 4k+ hours in it. I can confidently say that after all this time I know *most* of the mechanics!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Europa Universalis IV has 3D pawns but it’s basically a 2D game So I think the last 3D game I played was either Life is Strange 2 or ACNH
neutral · AI labelView post →instead of releasing a whole new game you could've just addad a whole remake version of this one reworking on the UIs, Graphics and menu..
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the game that had the biggest impact on my life that I ever played. I started playing when I was in middle school and, after getting out and back in many times, am still playing right in the middle of my graduate course. This is a game that is very dear to me and I will always come back to it: I download it, try a new country, wage an endless series of wars, become the undisputed global powerhouse, then turn off the game because it got boring, and after a couple of months, I do it all…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Europa Universalis IV I've finally managed to get through the base game and watched a lot of... seriously, a LOT of guides along the way. But I'm really enjoying it. So far, I've pretty much exclusively played Portugal, and my biggest enemy has been Morocco. But these complex games always manage to get me hooked. Gameplay & Perfomance Yeah, it's a really old game, and you can definitely tell. That being said, the performance is surprisingly good for a game of its age. They've even added HUD…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paradox are bundling four DLCs into Europa Universalis IV free for all players https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/09/paradox-are-bundling-four-dlcs-into-europa-universalis-iv-free-for-all-players/ #Paradox #EuropaUniversalisIV #PCGaming
neutral · AI labelView post →As a historian and traveler, this game has helped me immerse myself into the history of any country I have visited in the last 10 years. not only that, it is a never-ending source of fun while remaining challenging. Recommended to any history fan out there, it takes hours to learn but a lifetime to master :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still on baby hours, and still quite bad at it, but i do love it. The DLC practice is a bit ♥♥♥♥ though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's a Europa Universalis IV mod I really love called Anbennar, which takes the game and turns it into a high fantasy world They've started adding in new art to it and I dunno who drew this but I absolutely fucking love it
positive · AI labelView post →As a history buff, I can't put into words how fun this game is and on top of that, how it teaches you as you play. Want Holland to own North America, you can do it! How about the Japanese invasion of Rome? Done! So much fun. Can't wait for EU5. Paradox has knocked it out of the park with EU3 (first one I played), EU4 and I expect nothing else with EU5!!! Take the time to learn, make mistakes, regroup, and forge your own history!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I give this game a resounding MAYBE. This game is clever and well thought out. Not as fun as Total War. The main problem is that you will invest several dozen to a hundred hours in the game, only to have your current game destroyed by a game mechanic that NOBODY BOTHERED TO TELL YOU ABOUT. Paradox is almost totally useless at explaining why the game is doing what it does. Answers are available on the forums, AFTER YOUR GAME IS RUINED, because you don't research a problem until you realize…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →EU4 is the game where I put the most hours in, bar none. If you like complex map staring games with a historical note, where saying it had an infinite replay value can be considered an understatement, this game is for you! 11 / 10 Ottoman World Conquests Would stare on a colored map until 6 a.m. again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game but greedy company
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Why is still play this game, you asked? Me, start as Burgundy with the plan of weaking France early. see France is strong with strong allies, England is opposed to me so i cannot join their war. decided on a new plan, decide to weaken the HRE by dismanteling it. see i stand a chance on becomming emperor. rethink my plan, new plan, become emperor. i am winning, austra gets one of their buffs, they are winning, i rush down any diplomatic reputation i can. spend a hell of a lot of money on all…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →> Decide I want to play as Morocco > Conquer most of North Africa > Build over 90k troops > Get invaded by Cast*lle who have 30k troops > Have a higher military tech level and better general than the Cast*lle > Lose all of my troops to 20k of those 30k > Realise the European tech groups are a *tiny* bit better than the Moroccan one > Ragequit and start a new game as Cast*lle > Have Fr*nce immediately take the North-East of the country and build hundreds of thousands of troops before I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played this game since I was 15-16 (around 2016) and I've grown up with game. It for sure influenced how I view history and politics and how my mind changed because of this game. I mainly recommend it if you are up for the challenge of learning tens of mechanics and how these play into your playthrough (eu4 wiki is gonna be your best friend here). It has social unrest, revolts, economy (though very shallow and not how it behaved in real life - if you want that go and play EU5, it is way…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Less than an hour into my brother's first game, france took all his money and had to stop because so mad he punch computer. 10/10 best game on steam.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally time to review this old dog. 1000+ hours and I'm still a rookie. Still watch guides on opening strategies, still get excited winning my first war against a major, still alt f4 and quit my entire run when I've *lost* my first war. I tried EU5, it is an economic simulator. In-depth, but for me, just isn't fun. I keep coming back to EU4 a few times a year for 2-week binges. Cannot recommend this game enough. If you're hesitant about getting all the DLC/learning what it has to offer, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lowkey just started playing paradox games like HOI4 but i saw people play EU5 and the hit it was so i tried the Europa Universalis 5 and it is great but damn eu4 is better currently there is so much stuff and content for nearly every country I always feel overwhelmed in a good way and never really bored
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best strategy game, by far! On the negative side, the dlc release cycle is predatory!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game. Simple economics, and you go war nations. Can understand game in 25-50 hours and just play
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was the first computer game I ever owned for myself, let alone the first game I ever got on Steam. I just graduated high school when I first got this game in 2013 and I can't describe what essence drew me to this game. I didn't know it yet but I had discovered I love this game genre, Grand Strategy. From then on I would play this game whenever I had the chance. From my first run as a Brandenburg attempt, to my more serious runs as the Ottomans, to the achievements hunting runs I do…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →anyway i'm off to play the pre-release new version of Anbennar, a fantasy rework of Europa Universalis IV, which is a dangerously grognard-adjacent game. i hope the muskovites don't find out and chastise me! i have it on good authority it was written by *not a white person*, for added horror!
neutral · AI labelView post →Game for people on the spectrum and map painting enjoyers (isn't that the same thing?) , you will need all dlc's for the game to be even remotely enjoyable My friends have upwards of 3000 hours in this game and i'm afraid of them. Send help. That is also about how long it will take you to understand all the mechanics in this game to a level that you can consider "good" There are mechanics in this game that it doesn't tell you about but are rather annoying to deal with (They are all on the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →EU4 is hard to learn at first, but once it clicks, hours disappear without you noticing and becomes very fun 😊. Top 5 games definitely.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paradox Interactive has many strategy games that span from Roman times all the way to the present. The more well-known ones include Hearts of Iron IV (HOI4), Europa Universalis IV (EU4)—with the next installment in development—and Victoria 3 (Vic3), among others.
neutral · AI labelView post →Great game with near infinite replay value, especially with such a great mod community. 10/10 wonderful game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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