Europa Universalis 5's unusual, year-long reveal was a lesson Paradox learned from Imperator's mixed reception: 'I wanted to do it a little bit earlier, but marketing people tend to get panicky when you start talking'

It was pretty obvious, right from the first dev diary published on February 24, 2024 that Paradox Tinto was working on Europa Universalis 5. The studio had been set up to maintain 2013's Europa Universalis 4, and was headed by EU director Johan Andersson. Everything it showed us from Project Caesar screamed Europa Universalis 5.

And Andersson had been extremely eager to get started. "I wanted to make a new game," he told me earlier this year, in Tinto's unassuming suburban office, located in Sitges, Spain.