Hearts of Iron III
Hearts of Iron III
Game
Game2010
Victoria II
Developer Paradox Development Studio
Victoria II is a grand strategy game developed by the Swedish game company Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It was announced on August 19, 2009, and released on August 13, 2010. It is a sequel to Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun. Virtual Programming published the Mac OS X version of the game on September 17, 2010, which is available on the App Store. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
301 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
39
Rotten
112 positive · 172 negative
95% range 34–45%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 112 | 172 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
10,299 of 11,150 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Mixed but mostly negative due to review bombing and divisive opinions.
Many players praise Victoria II as a deep, ambitious grand strategy game, calling it a 'masterpiece' and 'one of the best grand strategy games' (R7). However, a significant number of negative reviews stem from a controversy over Paradox's moderation, with players alleging the company banned a user for using a photo of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and calling him 'controversial' (R14, R19, R20). Some also criticize the game itself as clunky, buggy, or overly detailed (R18, R30). [7][14][19][20][18][30]
The review bombing is explicitly acknowledged by several users, who advise ignoring it and focusing on the game's quality (R2, R4, R7). Critics (per Wikipedia) gave the game a 75% average, praising reduced micromanagement and a friendlier interface, though some found it frustratingly detailed. [2][4][7]
Praised deep grand strategy simulation · mod support · historical immersion
Criticised review bombing controversy · Paradox moderation · clunky interface and bugs
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
Victoria II sits at 39% positive across 284 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Victoria II received generally favourable reviews, achieving a 75% average on Metacritic. GameSpot said that there was much less micromanagement than in its predecessor. The reviewer stated: "Thanks to a friendlier interface and tutorials, Victoria II is a lot more playable and enjoyable than its predecessor." GameShark was less enthusiastic. The reviewer said: "As a strategy game, Victoria II frustrates me. It is an orgy of detail for detail's sake, yet the information I really want never seems to be at hand. The decisions I make seem mostly inconsequential, changing the game only by a slow process of accretion. Modeling has overtaken game design. Watching Victoria II is hypnotic and…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 301 · most liked firstMaybe it's time to finally go back and finish my Victoria II game where I used cheat codes to auto-westernize Persia in 1836.
positive · AI labelView post →I think this is the first time in any Victoria II game that I've deliberately refused to resolve a crisis diplomatically, because this is just too good an opportunity to grind Russia into the dirt and liberate my Azeri brothers and sisters.
positive · AI labelView post →Victoria II: An Intellectual Sandbox Disguised as a Grand Strategy Game Victoria II is not a game you play so much as one you study. Where most grand strategy titles reward territorial expansion or military dominance, Victoria II asks something far more demanding: that you understand systems—economic, social, political, and ideological—and how they collide over time. Its brilliance lies in how little it explains and how much it expects. At its core, Victoria II is an argument about history.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Disregard the Turks. Buy this game and get one of the big rework mods, and you will have a near perfect grand strategy game. I repeat. Disregard the brigading reviewbombing Turks.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommended if you're contemplating suicide and you need a little extra something to kick the chair out from underneath you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm laughing my ass off at these idiots. Ignore the Turks. A very well made game, provided you have the DLC which is stupidly horribly expensive (which should be free) like all other pdx titles.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, favorite playthrough was restoring Byzantine empire and kicking out Turks from europe :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Calling Atatürk controversial and banning people just for using his picture as their profile picture. Guess that happens if you learn history from wikipedia.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Happy #MapMonday! This one is (loosely) based on a Victoria II game I played where I used cheat codes to auto-westernize China, and then formed an alliance with Germany and spent the whole 19th century working together to kick the shit out of Russia and the Western colonial powers. 🥰
positive · AI labelView post →My name gilbert I am so joyful and I love this game :) because this game has made me have joy in my life. Thank you, Victoria II.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the game is getting review bombed because of the turks the game itself is one of the best grand strategy games i ever played sad to see paradox fumble soo bad with their community management that older games are getting review bombed
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Victoria 2 is the most radical, ambitious, and mechanically "broken" masterpiece in Paradox Interactive’s history. While it presents a flawless socio-economic simulation on paper, it turns into a self-sabotaging pile of glitches once you dive into the code. Here is the complete, comprehensive critique of Victoria 2's core issues, design flaws, and engine limitations: The Anatomy of a Systemic Collapse: All Structural Issues of Victoria 2 Despite its brilliant Population (POP) mechanics,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →**A Review of *Victoria II*** *By Arthur Schopenhauer* One beholds the screen and is struck first by its poverty. The map is functional, no more; the interface is a grey expanse of ledgers and tabs, devoid of charm, devoid of warmth, devoid of any aesthetic intention whatsoever. It is the world rendered as corporate quarterly report. A child's atlas, glimpsed through frosted glass. One pays a princely sum for this—and then pays again, and again, for the DLC that renders the simulation merely…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paradox is just, racist, fascist, delusional company. Trying to manipulate the history with their sick minds by calling Atatürk as a "controversial". Shame on you gready racist. Long live ATATURK!!!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Slowly starting to figure out how this game works. Kinda fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely terrible, horrendous, incomplete, filled with bugs, objectively one of the worst games to ever exist. But still better than Victoria 3 though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh yeah I remember when I'd only played Victoria II (Which I'd pirated anyway) and thought hey this is a really great game development company and acquired a legal copy of Stellaris when it was on sale and my coworkers were like.. A Paradox game? You rich? And... Then I watched all the new DLCs for Stellaris roll in over the years. I bought maybe 3 or 4 of them on sale and tbf I think I have like 150 hours in it so it's not too bad, but honestly I don't think I'll ever buy another Paradox…
positive · AI labelView post →This game had the devs put a lot of love and effort into it, and it shows. Unfortunately, I can't get the same enjoyment from the game's successor. Even the naming convention changed from Vic II to Vic 3. I often go back to this masterpiece that visually looks like a quarterly report.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game will leave you wondering who the ♥♥♥♥ the anarcho-liberals are after they’ve sieged your capital for the twelfth time in a single playthrough.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The review bombs are not accurate, ignore them. Absolutely love this game despite the slightly unrealistic systems. The art style and UI are so pleasant to look at, the music is amazing. I can just lose myself for hours (I have many more hours I on the Amazon store version I first bought years ago) clicking through the menus and analyzing things.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cannot recommend any Paradox associated game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the best victoria game in the series victoria 3 isnt real, or at least thats what I choose to believe , ♥♥♥♥ paradox greedy company always charging too much for slop. Anyway yes its a good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →“I did not seek hegemony; it merely emerged as the most rational administrative outcome.” Victoria 2 is a masterclass in grand strategy. Its intricate simulation of 19th century politics, economics, and society creates a vast world where every decision feels meaningful and consequential. Whether it be navigating diplomacy to navigating a population with its fantastic population system: POPs. POPs... every individual belongs to a class, culture, religion, and profession and behaves…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not for everyone, but this remains my favorite game of all time. Unlike newer PDX games, you will not have all the info and secrets shoved into your face. You will struggle mightily to learn and use your limited high school level economics education to move sliders around. You will actually see the scope of your country change and the shape of warfare be revolutionized over the timeframe of the game. You can genuinely play start to finish in one day if you want, and leave fulfilled. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →has a bigger map than victoria 3 and better unit interactivity and units, i like the politics play and the sliders more.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another Paradox disappointment. It gets bogged down in an absurd amount of unnecessary detail. Unfortunately, it doesn’t realistically capture its era
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Genocidal Freaks Reviewbombing this game is just another of many Arguments to play it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommended? No. This isn't about the game itself, it's about how Paradox Interactive is handling a discrimination controversy. A player was banned from Paradox's official Discord for using a real photo of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a profile picture. A moderator called him "controversial" and linked him to the events of 1915 without any credible basis, then deleted replies that pushed back on it. If controversial figures are banned from profile pictures, that rule has to apply to everyone, not…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Imagine being a political-military excel game, then having audacity to ban people for having historical hero profile pictures. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is the founder of a country and the leader of the republic. Good bye to your reviews, and ♥♥♥♥ you all for not having a single backbone.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No mom, i dont need a j*b, i need to make the Großdeutsches Kaiserreich the strongest nation of the 19th-20th century
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My 2nd favourite Grand Strategy game before EU4. Works really well for the period it is set in, and still more enjoyable than Victoria 3, even without mods.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ww1 happened becuase of Spain and Italy trying to colonize the western Sahara. Would recommend.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To me this the best game by Paradox. The learning curve is somewhat high, but after overcoming it and learning the mechanics, this is one of the best Grand strategy games out there. 600+ hours spent on this and still returning to it after all these years.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →you can send all the turks to brazil and return anatolia to its rightful italian brethren
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dont pay attention to the current review bombing, it has nothing to do with this game and its bc of some stuff Paradox did. The game itself is very good, and whatever is found lacking on it can usually be fixed by installing mods, do be prepared to get migraines when you open the factories tab in the late game, i certainly do get those
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing Game, love the Victorian era, Mods make it cooler, but base game is just as fun! just got 1000.7 hours around a day ago.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the best Paradox game. Yes, it's old. Yes, it's a pain to learn (what Paradox game isn't?). But it's easily the most well-made simulation they have. This type of economic system is matched by no other game on the market (save for maybe Offworld Trading Company, and that's a different genre altogether). The way resources feel tangible isn't really found in other games. That being said, the AI still sucks and the combat is a true dice-roll. Performance could also certainly be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Haven't played a bigger nothing burger in my whole life. Victoria 3 haters will make you think this is the superior game when 80% of this game is pure RNG lmao. Save your money
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yellow River has flooded. Mandate of Heaven is lost. Millions must rebel. GUANGDONG FEARS OUR MIGHT!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game, why PDX couldn't just copy what worked from this game to HOI4, EU5 or VIC3 is a mystery. Outside of larpers its good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I felt it was only right to wait until I passed 100 hours to say just how good this game really is.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By installing the GFM and TGC mods, you can enjoy this game endlessly—thanks to a thriving community of modders who continually introduce fresh content.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love it and the mods are great extention to the game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Besides politics, this game outclasses vic3 in everything from flavour to mechanical gameplay
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you thought grand strategy was just about wars and conquest, think again. Victoria II takes you into the heart of the 19th and early 20th centuries, where industry, politics, diplomacy, and social reform are just as important as armies. This is a game where running a country feels alive—you’re not just moving units on a map; you’re shaping economies, managing populations, and steering societies through decades of change. The gameplay is unbelievably deep. You can take almost any nation and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the turks are right about every other game but this one
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What’s happening on the HOI4 forum is an embarrassment for Paradox. An ordinary modder cannot decide whether historical figures are controversial or not; anyone who wants to discuss this is welcome to come to the Academy. This individual used their authority on the forum they manage to attempt to disparage the Turkish nation and its values. Severing the company’s ties with this person would serve as an apology. Remember that this is a gaming platform and that there are hundreds, even thousands,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Goated game does basically everything better than Victoria 3 and each country feels unique. Also managed to survive for more than a decade with 2 DLCs unlike other Paradox games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paradox's use of regurgitative AI that takes pirated data and then freely infringes on artistic copyrights is abhorrent and obviously illegal. I morally cannot justify supporting Paradox games any further until they stop stealing other people's creative efforts without proper compensation.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was introduced to me like the CIA introduced crack cocaine to potential addicts
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this a little bit and honestly there's not enough paid DLC's IMO so the game sucks and is stupid. /srs (real!!)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Victoria II is undoubtedly one of the most iconic titles in 19th-century grand strategy; however, as a consumer, continuing to endorse a classic game also means endorsing the developer's ongoing ethical values and community standards. Due to Paradox Interactive’s recent unacceptable conduct, I can no longer recommend supporting this product or its developer. Recently, Paradox’s official moderation team targeted Turkish players simply for using authentic historical portraits of Mustafa Kemal…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Prussia isn't yellow enough
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A classic game that, while complex, you don't have to relearn every update, and all the mods today will work for the most part.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is only fun if you're severely autistic. Also last Paradox game to have a normal DLC policy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old game with good graphics and always works.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They weren't joking when they said that this game combines Microsoft Excel with Tabletop Diplomacy
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have tried coming back to this game across multiple years hoping it would finally click, but it remains a tedious, over-designed chore like every other Paradox title. The fact you can't just declare war and have to sit around waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and freaking WAITING for a casus belli to be given to you, as if the nations this game allows you to play as ever needed to do that. The UI is archaic, the pacing is painfully boring, and the artificial friction completely ruins any…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →cant play the timeline before 1800 for some reason
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Victoria 2 is a clunky, unstable masterpiece held together by duct tape, nostalgia, and a broken economy, where you spend half your time fighting a baffling user interface and the other half watching your entire nation collapse because nobody in the country wants to buy cement.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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