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DLC

You can build 136 million different houses in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s new DLC, if you really must

by admin August 21, 2025

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s forthcoming Legacy of the Forge expansion introduces a new home customisation system, as part of a story about restoring a legendary burnt-down blacksmith’s joint where your dad once worked as an apprentice.

Out September 9th, the expansion takes Henry of Skalitz back to Kuttenberg to climb the ranks of the blacksmith guild, with unique armour and weapon blueprints. Expect “quirky” requests from clients, but above all, expect a nagging sense of failure, because the aforesaid customisation system “supports over 136 million combinations”, and always, always at the back of your mind, the creeping suspicion that yours is the very worst.

Do I sound needlessly weary? I’m sorry, I just hate when PRs do the “XX million possible combinations thing” (obligatory disclosure: I’ve probably enthusiastically written up such promises in the past). I can poke myself in the face 136 million ways while eating dinner, Warhorse – that doesn’t mean I care to do so. Nobody needs a million different versions of anything, not even the Pokemon Company.

Also, I confidently predict based on gruelling experience and the below trailer that 120 million of those combinations will be indistinguishable. It’ll be a case of moving mead cups fractionally sideways on tables to drive the chatbox crazy, you mark my words. When they release this DLC, somebody (not me) should try to make all 136 million possible houses out of spite. Then we can turn Kingdom: Come Deliverance 2 into a giant game of spot-the-difference. Or perhaps an absolutely terrible medieval version of Blue Prince.

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The overabundance of house variations is more relatable when you consider that finding a safe place to sleep, rest and eat your vittles is one of Deliverance 2’s earlier challenges. There may indeed be 136 million places in pre-industrial Bohemia where it would be unsafe to sleep, even if the game permitted it.

When not building houses and fighting the sense that there are 135 million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine ways you could have done it better, you’ll spend the new DLC venturing “down memory lane”, seeking after friends of your dead father and uncovering a part of his life “that has remained hidden – until now.” Perhaps your dad was secretly the 15th century equivalent of Dorothy Draper.

You’ll forge new friendships alongside fancy swords, and explore the effects of different home furnishings on your abilities. It’s probably good fun, on the whole. I did quite enjoy the base game, on balance. Still, stop threatening me with large numbers, Deep Silver, I am a person of culture.

Check out our Gamescom 2025 event hub for all the PC game announcements and preview coverage from Cologne.

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Bloodlines 2 Locks Core Content Behind Costly Day-One DLC

by admin August 20, 2025

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been through a hell of a journey to reach us. At last night’s Opening Night Live from Gamescom, Paradox revealed the long-delayed game finally has a release date, October 21. What the publisher didn’t boast about was is that it is locking two out of the six playable clans behind paid day-one DLC, and it’ll cost you an extra $30 to unlock them. A third of the ways to play the game.

Expensive day-one DLC was once the most loathed concept in gaming. Back in 2012 it was the talk of the industry, as companies deliberately developed a chunk of the launched game with the intention of hiding it behind a further paywall, and people understandably hated it. Times moved on, and now we’re screwed over in all manner of different ways, most usually seeing significant portions of games sectioned off behind so-called “battle passes,” where we’re expected to not just pay once but to buy new ones multiple times throughout the year! Yay video games! But Paradox is kicking us old-school with Bloodlines 2 by deciding that a full third of how you can play the game will require you to fork out 50 percent of the original asking price again. The cheapest version of the game will cost you $60 on PC, but if you want to buy everything they developed for launch, it’ll cost you an extraordinary $90. Not even the $70 “Deluxe Edition” will secure you either of the missing clans. (Thanks RPS.)

A huge part of how the original Bloodlines played was based on the clan you chose at the start. It affected not just more common features like stats, but entirely changed how you approached the game. Different clans within the world treated you accordingly, missions were experienced differently as a result, and the means by which you could approach the RPG quests were all affected by who you were. Play as Brujah and you were a mighty warrior but very vulnerable to “frenzy,” where you’d fully lose control of your bloodlust. But pick a Toreador and you were a schmoozer, expert in socializing, but weakened by your inability to turn away from the truly beautiful. Clearly these made for very different experiences of the game. But now, in Bloodlines 2, if you want to be a Toreador and play that way, it’s going to cost you an awful lot more.

As the game’s own FAQ makes clear, these choices are not cosmetic.

“How will the dialogue options differ in each playthrough?” asks one of the questions. The answer:

The dialogue options differ depending on which clan you’ve chosen and what choices you’ve made throughout the story. When hunting for Blood Resonance, specific disciplines and outfit choices can also affect NPCs on the street.

It also notes that “each clan offers new, unique abilities, playstyles, and distinct outfits.” Play style seems a hell of a thing to lock to day-one DLC.

For a while, Bloodlines 2 did look to have become vaporware, after its original development under Hardsuit Labs fell apart in 2021 following its former leads being fired. Then in 2023 it re-emerged, now being developed by The Chinese Room, the studio best known for their walking sims, which has had its own turbulent few years. Given The Chinese Room only released their most recent game, Still Wakes the Deep, in June of last year, it seemed unlikely that Bloodlines 2 could be imminent. But here we are! It’s out in just a couple of months.

We’ve reached out to Paradox to ask what has motivated the decision to lock away such a significant chunk of the core game behind day-one DLC. (Although we can guess it’s at least in part, “We desperately need to recoup some of the costs of the last six years of development across two different studios under multiple different leaderships for the sequel to a game that came out in 2004.”) We’ll report back if they respond.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

inZOI: Island Getaway’s DLC is here, and here’s a trailer to hold you over until you can get home and play it

by admin August 20, 2025

Very much right on schedule, Krafton has released Island Getaway, the long-teased DLC pack for life sim game inZOI. The first time we got solid details of the add-on was back in July, when the developer confirmed it would be revealed at gamescom.

Later, an official release date was announced, and it turned out that you won’t actually have to be attending gamescom in person to play the DLC, because its release date is August 20. Well, that day has now arrived.

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Island Getaway launched earlier today, free to all owners of inZOI. The DLC is part of a larger patch, version 0.3.0, which brings several quality of life tweaks and other updates across the board. This also means that inZOI is now available on Mac OS.

Island Getaway adds an entirely new map to the game. It’s called Cahaya, and it’s split into two islands. The whole thing is inspired by Southeast Asian locales, and that’s what the new activities and outfits are themed after.

Lifestyle activities (farming, fishing, mining) are among the core features of this update. There’s also the arrival of vehicles to look forward to, which let you travel around faster and more easily. There’s plenty in the patch notes that inZOI players will appreciate.

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If you’re thinking of joining them, there’s a nicely-timed 20% off sale, live now on Steam. The discount is good until September 2, so there’s plenty of time to decide. If you know your PC won’t be able to handle the game, you’re probably better off waiting until inZOI comes to PS5 next year.

While you’re here, you’re going to appreciate our guides for how to change your gender and sexuality, as well as how to go to university. We’ve also updated our jobs guide with the new careers that became available with the DLC.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Cult of the Lamb’s next DLC is Woolhaven, out in early 2026

by admin August 20, 2025

Indie game hit Cult of the Lamb has been keeping players (fittingly) enthralled since its original launch in 2022 with several free content updates, such as Unholy Alliance and Sins of the Flesh. At the Opening Night Live of Gamescom 2025, the roguelike unveiled its next update, titled Woolhaven. The paid DLC will arrive early next year, but no price has been set yet.

Woolhaven introduces a dangerous new mountain zone to the game, where you’ll find two new dungeons to conquer and as well as a spreading corruption called Rot. And you’d expect from the main story, your choices about how to deal with the mountain’s denizens have no right or easy answers. Things will also get frosty for your settlement with the addition of blizzards and freezing temperatures that create new reasons for followers to doubt your all-knowing guidance. But you can also keep them happy with the new ranching system for raising rare animals that can provide your cult with wool, food and a pretty sweet ride.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance Is Getting Sega Guest DLC, Including Sonic’s Eggman

by admin August 19, 2025

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is due out later this month, and now Sega has announced a fun if surprising bit of DLC that’s coming “early 2026.” Dubbed the Sega Villains Stage, details are still pretty light on the DLC, but Sonic the Hedgehog’s Dr. Eggman is set to appear as a boss fight. Alongside that, protagonist Joe Musashi will have two other guest villains to take on, though they are yet to be revealed. If you’re picking up the digital deluxe edition of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, you’ll automatically unlock it whenever the DLC does arrive next year.

Sega also announced that Young Dirty Bastard (YDB), i.e. the son of the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard from Wu-Tang Clan, is releasing a song called The Path Has Just Begun inspired by the Shinobi series. It’ll be released on streaming services this week, August 21, and you can expect a new trailer for the game on the same day.

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Now Playing: Shinobi: Art of Vengeance – Announcement Trailer

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was teased back at The Game Awards in 2023 before getting a proper reveal earlier this year, bringing the series back to its roots with 2D action-platforming. It’s also the first new game in the series since 2011’s Shinobi 3D, a 3DS title that received average reviews at the time. This new Shinobi game comes as part of a broader move by Sega to bring back some of its legacy titles that haven’t received a new entry in many years, like Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi. A movie adaptation of the Shinobi series is also in the works.

You’ll be able to pick up Shinobi: Art of Vengeance on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC when it launches on August 29.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Cars have had real-life DLC for a while, but now Volkswagen’s gone full pay to win, locking a car’s max horsepower behind a subscription

by admin August 17, 2025

Some of the execs at Volkswagen must like Gacha games⁠—so much so that, as reported by Auto Express, you now have to “subscribe” to get your car’s full horsepower output with one of its new models.

VW’s proposition is this: buy a new ID.3—the brand’s “entry level” (I remember when that used to mean <£20,000, not over £30k) electric hatchback—in some of the mid-level trims, and you get a somewhat piddling 201 horsepower. But if you’re feeling frisky, you can tack on a £16.50/mo subscription, or a one-time £649 fee, to break the paywall and unleash an extra 27hp. Sound familiar? Even to a novice gamer, this business model is probably old hat.

I’m no stranger to aftermarket car modifications “unlocking” more power. There’s more of a special DIY feeling there, like overclocking your RTX 5080 or modding Skyrim to make elderly people graphically coherent. But when features of your car are built in, and then the marque upcharges you to access them? That’s where you lose me.

Back in my day, you bought Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 for the Nintendo GameCube, and that was it. You got the full game. But over the last two decades, as triple-A publishers learned to master the art of consumer exploitation via DLC and subscription models, buying a game these days can feel like buying a work in progress. Trust me, I play Paradox grand strategy games.

Auto manufacturers, a notoriously conservative bunch, were much slower to adopt this particular technique of wringing their buyers dry. But subscription features did start slowly creeping in in the late 2010s, as cars became integral parts of the “internet of things,” or the increasing number of formerly analogue objects and appliances that now have internet connectivity for some reason.

BMW gained particular infamy for locking Apple CarPlay and heated seats (seriously, you can’t make this up) behind a paywall. Luckily, consumers reacted so poorly that the company reversed course on both. But as any survival game expert will tell you, the horde of zombies outside your shelter don’t go away just because they failed to break down your door the first time.

I play 98% of my PC games on Steam—including some pretty darn old releases. But recently I’ve been wondering, what happens if/when Valve goes under, or computer hardware advances to a point where my previous purchases are no longer compatible, or my library loses support in some other way? I bought my games on Steam, but do I really own them? When cars debut in early access, with paywall-locked features and live-service models, what happens when your trusty jalopy bricks while driving down the road? Oh wait; we already know.

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August 17, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Darktide receives its first paid DLC alongside free update

by admin June 24, 2025

It’s time to lay down the law on Atoma Prime with the release of the Arbites DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

While this game has received a multitude of updates throughout the years bringing quality of life changes, new game modes and more, this is the first paid expansion that we’ve seen for Darktide. Bringing a fifth class to the game, the Arbites expansion lets you play as a member of the Adeptus Arbites, complete with a cyber mastiff that accompanies you into battle.

The DLC is also releasing alongside the the Battle for Tertium update which is free for all players. This not only revamps the core mission experience to streamline the narrative, but also brings updates to the Mortis Trials game mode along with a handful of quality of life improvements.

For the full details on the Arbites DLC, including talent tree breakdowns, ability descriptions and gameplay, check out the full press release below.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, June 23, 2025. Independent developer Fatshark today releases their first paid class DLC, the Arbites, for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide alongside a free update, the Battle for Tertium. Next to exacting punishment with extreme prejudice with an Arbitrator, players will get a reworked narrative experience and mission board, experience a new difficulty for the Mortis Trials activity, play through the Inferno live event, engage in a new Havoc Campaign and enjoy a QoL changes as well as some weapon balancing.Arbites Class – Release TrailerPlayers can now purchase the Arbites Class! All editions will be available to purchase starting June 23 across all platforms (PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox X|S):Standard Edition: $11.99 / €11.99Deluxe Edition: $18.99 / €18.99Cosmetic Upgrade (Upgrade to Deluxe): $7.99 / €7.99The Adeptus Arbites enforce the Lex Imperialis – the Imperial Law. The institution’s most visible officers, known as Arbitrators, are utterly unforgiving of those who dare transgress the Law.Arbites Class Feature Breakdown:Cyber-Mastiff: The Arbitrator’s loyal companion and best friend will join you in the slaying of lawbreakers. After you’re finished with customizing its name and looks, you’ll soon have it fighting alongside you. The Cyber-Mastiff has its own Passive target selection, which it will use to help you against anything that comes too close. You can also command it to attack a specific target, which will override any behaviour of its own. To command your Mastiff, you simply double-tap your Tag Input on any enemy that is eligible to be Tagged.Talent Tree: As an Arbitrator you have plenty of options when it comes to how you wish to play. Going from left to right in the Talent Tree we will find a few prominent themes. From Elite killing and Cyber-Mastiff handling, to Hybrid Combat and Supportive Utility, and lastly Crowd Control and Melee. While the Cyber-Mastiff is iconic to the Arbites, if you prefer to play without it, take a look at the Lone Wolf Talent (see below)!Blitz AbilitiesArbites Grenade: Your base Blitz is an Impact Grenade that deals high damage and stagger to anything struck by itVoltaic Shock Mine: Throw a Voltaic Shock Mine onto the floor that lies dormant until an enemy comes near. Upon activation the Mine shocks and electrocute enemiesRemote Detonation: Cause an electric Explosion around your Cyber-Mastiff’s position. This deals Damage, Electrocutes, and Staggers nearby enemies.Combat AbilitiesNuncio-Aquila: Iconic to the Arbites, is the Nuncio-Aquila. Deploy it to create an area where allies regenerate Toughness. Additionally, Enemies in the area have increase Damage taken.Castigator’s Stance: Instantly replenishes your Toughness and you enter the Castigator’s Stance for 10s. During the stance you have increased Movement Speed, reduced Damage Taken, reduced Movement Speed Penalties from Actions (e.g. attacking, bracing, aiming, interacting or charging heavy attacks), but you cannot Sprint.Break the Line: Step forward and Bash, causing high Stagger to enemies in front of you, and inflict more damage for a short duration.Cyber-Mastiff Iconics: In addition, there are three Talents that affect the Behaviour of your Cyber-Mastiff.Unleashed Brutallity: Your Cyber-Mastiff prioritises Elite and Specialist Enemies, and deals more damage to them.Go Get ‘Em! Your Cyber-Mastiff prioritises Ranged Enemies, and deals +50% Damage to them.Lone Wolf: You are no longer accompanied by your Cyber-Mastiff. Gain +15% Toughness Damage Reduction, +10% Attack Speed, +10% Damage, +1 increased Charges on your Blitz Abilities, and you replenish a charge of your Blitz Ability every 60s. This Iconic cannot be taken with any other Cyber-Mastiff related talent.Naturally we have more in store with Auras and Keystones nodes! Make sure to check these out in our patch notes!Free Update: The Battle for Tertium includes:The Battle for TertiumThe core player experience has been reworked to provide a new clearer narrative focus, following the conflict of the Battle for Tertium. Players will now experience a linear campaign with new mission debriefs and embedded cinematics. This new progression path is designed to ease in new players and gradually unlock features that were previously gated by character level.While previously each new player’s experience was completely random, the Battle for Tertium narrative presents maps, enemies and characters in a specific order, allowing players to discover all aspects of the game at a much better pace.The story missions play the same as regular missions, except that these missions have a more tight control over which enemies spawn. You might also hear some new VO lines during missions, and some brand new mission debrief cinematics when completing each mission.Mission Board ReworkA new mission board system will be bringing several changes to how you engage with missions and difficulties. Missions are no longer tied to a specific difficulty, allowing you to select a mission and then choose the difficulty you want. This will effectively increase the amount of mission options available for players of all difficulty levels. While most circumstances remain consistent across difficulty levels, some are disabled on lower difficulties. Notably, Maelstrom missions are exclusive to the Heresy and Auric difficulties.Additionally, the difficulty system has also been overhauled. You now unlock new difficulties by completing missions rather than leveling up your characters. You must prove your skills at your current maximum difficulty to unlock access to the next one. We intend to create a motivation for new players to master the game step by step, and for veteran players to feel assured that their teammates have earned the right to be there.You will make progress by playing missions at your current maximum difficulty. Completing missions advances your progress. Mission Failures reduce your progress slightly but you will never be demoted to a lower difficulty. Higher difficulties will require you to complete more missions to unlock them.Update to the Mortis Trials activity:The Secrets of the Shipmistress: Sefoni’s indiscretions are getting worse! During Mortis Trials, keen-eared players now have the opportunity to sift pieces of Shipmistress Brahms’ past from the psychic chatter. How did she inherit the Mourningstar? What is she hiding? Delve deeper into all these and more across dozens of new memory echoes, unlockable by claiming victory in the Mortis Trials!New difficulty for Mortis Trials: Since the release of Mortis Trials we have noticed people requesting a higher challenge in Mortis Trials! So, we are adding a new difficulty, Auric, as well as some other small changes.There will now be a shorter time in between waves.Waves will now have more enemies and enemy types increasing variety.We are changing the base difficulty to match an Auric difficulty mission.New In-Game Event: Inferno: starting June 23 and until July 7, the streets of Tertium will be set aflame in missions bearing the Inferno condition. Whether by heretic plot or over-zealous Imperial enforcement makes no real difference. Missions must still run, so be careful down there. You’re literally dropping into a hot zone. The rewards will be Ordo dockets, Plasteel and Diamantine. Those who complete the last tier of the event will receive a cosmetic portrait frame.New Havoc Campaign: Havoc will enter a new campaign featuring a new mission pool and rotation in mutators.Quality of Life Changes:Increased maximum number of operatives to 8.Increased maximum number of weapon loadouts to 8.Added a total of ~900 new banter conversations, both between the original cast and Arbites.About Fatshark®Fatshark is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and was established in 2007. More than 100 experienced game developers are part of the independent developer, and we strive to create compelling interactive experiences. Apart from Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, the team has previously developed titles including Warhammer: Vermintide 2, Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide, Lead and Gold, Krater, and War of the Roses. For more information, visit www.fatsharkgames.comAbout Games Workshop®Games Workshop® Group PLC (LSE:GAW.L), based in Nottingham, UK, produces the best fantasy miniatures in the world. Games Workshop designs, manufactures, retails, and distributes its range of Warhammer®: Age of Sigmar® and Warhammer® 40,000® games, miniatures, novels, and model kits through more than 553 of its own stores (branded Games Workshop® or Warhammer®), the www.games-workshop.com web store and independent retail channels in more than 50 countries worldwide. More information about Games Workshop and its other, related, brands and product ranges (including our publishing division ‘Black Library’ and our special resin miniatures studio ‘Forge World’) can be found at www.games-workshop.com.Warhammer 40,000: Darktide © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2025. Darktide, the Darktide logo, GW, Games Workshop, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likeness thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world, and used under licence. © Fatshark AB 2025. All rights reserved to their respective owners.

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June 24, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Grand Theft Auto 5 Trio Want Fans To Petition For One Last DLC Story Together

by admin June 22, 2025

In the 12 years since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, two of the three main characters, Franklin Clinton and Trevor Philips, have reappeared in Grand Theft Auto Online, while Michael De Santa has only been mentioned. But if the actors behind these iconic characters get their way, they’d reunite GTA 5’s trio for one last heist.

Earlier this month, Steven Ogg (Trevor), Ned Luke (Michael), and Shawn Fonteno (Franklin) made a joint appearance together at Comic Con Brussels (via Dexerto). At the 12:40 mark in the video below, the actors spoke about their desire to reunite in a DLC for GTA Online called The Final Score, which was named by Luke. The trio stressed that Rockstar doesn’t currently have any plans to bring them back together, and urged fans to campaign for it.

Rockstar has yet to shed light on whether GTA Online will continue following the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 next year. Take-Two executives have suggested that GTA Online may be unaffected, but they’ve stopped short of confirming that. If the actors manage to convince Rockstar to bring them back one more time, it seems more likely to be for GTA 6 than GTA 5.

Earlier this month, GTA Online rolled out another large update that lets players assume control of their own money laundering operation. One of the developers of GTA 3 recently disclosed that the team wanted an online GTA game as far back as 2001. There have also been hints that more major music personalities may get their own radio stations in GTA 6.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch on May 26, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

A smiling banana says "It's me, Pedro. Your friend..."

Gaming Gear

Shotgun Cop Man just got a free DLC that proves every game is better with bullet time

by admin June 22, 2025

My Friend Pedro was a Flash game that evolved into a standalone release in which you played a man who used his skateboard gun-fu skills to kill bad dudes at the command of a talking banana (named Pedro). It was a lot of fun. I gave it an 81. You could throw a frypan into the air and then ricochet bullets off it in slow-motion.

Its developer, DeadToast Entertainment, followed it this year with Shotgun Cop Man. A more lo-fi take on the action-platformer genre, Shotgun Cop Man saw you descend into Hell to fight demons with a shotgun that launched you into the air when you shot the ground. Want to double-jump? Shoot twice. It was almost as much fun, though it didn’t have a skateboard or bullet time.

Until now. DeadToast has generously bolted three new worlds with 17 levels in each of them onto Shotgun Cop Man. These 51 levels are themed around My Friend Pedro and add skateboards and bullet time, as well as breakable glass, frying pans, ziplines, swing ropes, and a friendly banana. There are also three new boss fights, one of which is with a helicopter.

Which is a lot of value to add to a game for free. Even better, Shotgun Cop Man is currently on sale for 20% off if you haven’t checked it out already, and My Friend Pedro is on sale for 80% off if you missed out on that bright yellow slice of the old ultraviolence before now. Basically, you’ve got no excuse. Unless you hate bullet time, in which case Max Payne 2 would like a word.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

4X strategy giant Victoria 3 is free to play for a limited time as Paradox release the latest DLC

by admin June 22, 2025

To suddenly make a leviathan 4X strategy game like Victoria 3 free to play the day before the weekend is either an act of historic generosity or a masterstroke of cruelty. My dear friends at Paradox Interactive, I have literally just sent Nic my contributions to this weekend’s What Are We All Playing round-up. And now, sirs and madams, you would have me reckon with approximately a century’s worth of densely tabulated imperialism, optional child labour and people called Leopold.

Not only have I popped my monocle, sirs and madams, but my top hat has gone off like a volcano and my handlebar mustache has twisted itself into a pair of propellers, which are now flying me away into the sunset. I bid you good evening, sirs and madams! I say again: good evening and good night!

The giveaway runs till 23rd June on Steam, and only applies to Victoria 3’s base game. You will need to buy the whole thing if you want to play beyond that window. It coincides with the launch of the Chambers Of Commerce DLC. Yes, this is the familiar Paradox gambit of enticing punters with a timed freebie, then burying them in paid expansions, like, I don’t know, Queen Victoria shoving Gladstone’s head down the toilet for proposing universal male suffrage.

We had words with the publishers last year about the often-heard claim that Paradox are in the habit of releasing games ‘unfinished’, then charging for expansions that add key mechanics. They said they were “trying to find a middle ground”, while acknowledging that it was a “fail” to release Victoria 3, specifically, without a proper warfare system.

Even in the absence of a chunky military component, Victoria 3 appears to be solid work. Back in 2022, our reviewer Caelyn Ellis called it “a warts and all take on a tumultuous period in history” and “a surprisingly thought-provoking experience”, not least for how it handles the whole British Empire thing. OK, Paradox, I have talked myself into trying it now. Witness me returning from the sky, whiskers whirring, exploded top hat held penitentially in one hand.

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June 22, 2025 0 comments