Unreasonably grand strategy game Europa Universalis 5 will get a Byzantine Empire-themed expansion called Fate of the Phoenix on May 6th, developers Paradox Interactive have announced. Not heard of EU5? Back in October, our reviewer Brendy called the game “a deep and intricate historical simulation that will overwhelm you with menus as much as it will compel you through centuries of global history.”
Brendy is gone now (RPS in peace), reduced to a mocking cackle on the wind, and I alone stand in my ignorance between you and this very first EU5 “Immersion pack”, in which there is Hellenism, bureaucracy, and the opportunity to “restore the Pentarchy to strengthen the Eastern Church”. I don’t even know what “byzantine” really means, other than being a word I use to describe Paradox grand strategy games. Was Europa Universalis 5 insufficiently byzantine before? Ach, here’s a trailer.
“Betrayed by former allies to the west and besieged by rising powers to the east, the Byzantine Empire has been reduced to its Greek and Thracian heartlands,” explains the blurb. “Centuries of intrigue and invasion have meant a steady decline in the fortunes of Constantinople. But, under your guidance, the heirs of the Caesars and stalwarts of the Orthodox faith can find their greatness once again.”
The expansion includes more stuff for the Bureucracy system, allowing you to “choose to keep the old ways in hopes of restoring the empire or take the risk of discarding centuries of ambition to follow a more modest course”.
There’s a unique societal value for Byzantine Empire, representing either the consolidation of your Roman heritage, or the process of reconciliation with your western Latin neighbours. There’s a new kind of disaster, Fate of the Phoenix, which is all about stopping the empire going tits up. And there is more to do in the realm of Orthodoxy: “Interact with the Ecumenical Patriarchs, restore the Pentarchy to strengthen the Eastern Church, expand Orthodoxy to Rome and Mend the Schism.” You can also shun Christianity and set out to win converts for the old Hellenic gods by invoking omens.
All these wonders plus new Eastern Mediterranean art, and new military units, events, subjects, and character-related actions. They’re calling this “flavour content”. I shudder in awe before a strategy game in which military units are defined as “flavour”. You can buy it as part of the game’s Premium edition, which includes a wodge of forthcoming DLC, or separately for $9.99/£8.49/€9.99. If you want a longer breakdown of what it adds, Paradox published a dev diary in March.
Should you invest in EU5 at this stage? Brendy kind of liked it at launch. “Paradox’s trademark blend of intricate geopolitical clockwork, hands-tied confusion, and ‘one more year’ compulsion is all here,” he wrote. “You just need to set aside a few centuries to enjoy it.” Recent Steam user reviews are mixed, but these are grand strategy reviewers, which means that some of the negative sentiments are based on hundreds of hours of play. I generally hate anything after a hundred hours of it.
In other news, Paradox have recently acknowledged that the sheer quantity of DLC they put out for their strategy games can scare away new players. They frequently have to weather accusations of releasing games in a disatisfactory state in order to “fix” them with paid DLC. Speaking to me in 2024, deputy CEO Mathias Lilja pushed back against this idea, commenting: “That’s the deal we have with our fans – we will continue to develop these games as long as you play it, and we can sell DLC. That’s our sustainable business, and that’s how we get these games that live for – [in the case of] Europa Universalis 4, it’s about 10 years now.”
Read more about Fate of the Phoenix on Steam.
