Out of all the big strategy games – Civilization 7, Stellaris, Cities Skylines 2, Manor Lords – Europa Universalis feels like the biggest, in the literal sense. Sweeping, historical, and immensely detailed, it’s now 12 years since the first arrival of EU4. Developer Paradox Tinto has kept it alive with DLC and updates, but the time for a full sequel feels nigh. The enigmatic ‘Project Caesar,’ which Paradox has been gradually revealing over the past several months, may well be the new Europa Universalis game. All the devlogs so far have pointed in that direction – but the latest makes a telling little hint that Europa Universalis 5 is indeed on the way.
Project Caesar is a new grand strategy game being created by Paradox Tinto. In a series of blogs and dispatches, the studio has outlined Caesar’s mechanics, map, economic systems, and diplomacy options. If it’s not literally a sequel to EU4, it certainly seems like one in spirit. However, there’s a new reason to believe that Europa Universalis 5 is actually on its way.
The latest Tinto update explains how players can upgrade existing nations in Project Caesar to form new countries and international alliances. In some cases, these have a historical basis: if certain conditions are met, a tier-one country like Northumbria can be combined with another tier-one region to form England.
The tier-two England can likewise evolve into the tier-three Great Britain. In the later game, you can meld independent nations into unified empires – control Britain and Scandinavia, for example, and you can forge the tier-four North Sea Empire. After that, you have the option to create fantastical, ahistorical new continents, and this is where things get curious…
Tinto provides a list of all the potential formable nations and empires in Project Caesar. In tiers one to four, there are multiple options. However, for tier five, only one formable is named, the fictional mega continent ‘Europa.’ Europa. Tier five. It stands out more when you see it in Paradox’s own table:
Given everything that’s already been detailed about Project Caesar, this seems like a knowing tease that the game is indeed EU5. We’re still waiting on official confirmation, but hopefully the sequel is truly on its way.
As we wait to hear more, check out some of the other best strategy games, or maybe the best 4X games on PC right now.
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