Friday morning was the start of the long-awaited PDXCON Remixed event, a digital convention celebrating all thingsParadox Interactive. As expected, PDXCON’s kick-off presentation featured a variety of announcements across Paradox’s range of grand strategy franchises. The biggest announcement being the return ofVictoria, a series that’s been awaiting a sequel for over a decade.Victoria 3is now in development, though release information remains unavailable for the time being.
WhileVictoria 3is without a doubt a grand strategy game, Paradox prefers to refer to it as asociety simulator. Its currencies are the needs and desires of national populations, dealing with diplomatic, economic, military, political, and technological aspects of a historical state. Balancing everything at once while striving toward the future is the player’s goal inVictoria 3, but as history shows that’s no simple matter – even if it’s just a simulation of the real thing.
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Paradox describesVictoria 3as one of the studio’s “most detailed historical worlds.” Players will once again be returning to the 19th century’s Industrial Age, when “scientific and social progress” drove forward at an unprecedented pace. According to Paradox, 100 different countries will be playable inVictoria 3, with plans to reach across the entire world down the line. And while some regions won’t be playable, including most of Africa and parts of both North and South America, these Decentralized Countries will still have appropriate names and governments.
One thing that Paradox makes clear in its announcement ofVictoria 3is that, while this is an entirely new game, it remains dedicated to the ideas behindVictoria 2and its predecessor. In other words, this is not a wargame like much of Paradox’s other offerings. Wars are a part of the game, but only in service to the larger mechanics of managing the internal workings of a Victorian-age country. There are plenty of alternatives for those looking for agrand strategygame with map painting.
As exciting asVictoria 3’s reveal was, Paradox remained quiet about its release plans for the game. In other words, it clearly needs more time in development before Paradox will be ready to provide a release window or date with confidence. What Paradox did share was thatVictoria 3will be coming to PC not just through Steam and the Paradox Store, butvia Xbox Game Passas well.
Victoria 3wasn’t the only announcement Paradox made during PDXCON. Other reveals include the majorRoyal Court expansion forCrusader Kings 3,Empire of Sin’s first expansionMake It Count,Prison Architect’s fifth expansionSecond Chances, theFederationsexpansion forStellaris, and new content creator packs forCities Skylines.
