Victoria II
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Victoria II'' is a
grand strategy game A grand strategy wargame or simply grand strategy game (GSG) is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of a nation state or empire's resources. It is a genre that has considerable overlap ...
developed by the
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
game company
Paradox Development Studio Paradox Development Studio (PDS) is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series ''Europa U ...
and published by
Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...
. It was announced on August 19, 2009, and released on August 13, 2010. It is a sequel to '' Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun''.
Virtual Programming Virtual Programming is a video game publisher for OS X and Linux. Virtual Programming has worked with publishers such as Square Enix, 2K Games, Epic Games, Epic, Codemasters, Techland and CD Projekt Red. Virtual Programming sources games from t ...
published the Mac OS X version of the game on September 17, 2010, which is available on the App Store. The game was localized for Russia by
1C Company 1C Company (russian: Фирма «1С», ) is a Russian software developer, distributor and publisher based in Moscow. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, related services and video games. In Russia, 1C is c ...
and Snowball Studios. Like its predecessor, ''Victoria II'' has the player control one of approximately 200 states of the world between 1836 and 1936. The player is in charge of a number of tools for managing the economy, science, domestic politics, diplomacy, army and navy. The main difference from other global strategies of Paradox Interactive is a significant emphasis on the details of internal processes occurring in the state, and the developed system of diplomacy available to the great powers. The game has many historical aspects to it, such as the ability to
colonize Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
places that, at the time, were not under the control of any European power, such as
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
,
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and
Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada ...
, and parts of
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
. Additionally, the game possesses a multiplayer mode, in which up to 32 players can play simultaneously. In 2021 Paradox announced a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
, ''
Victoria 3 ''Victoria 3'' is a 2022 grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It is a sequel to the 2010 game ''Victoria II'' and was released on 25 October 2022. Gameplay ''Victoria 3'' spa ...
'', which was released October 25, 2022.


Development

A sequel for '' Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun'' was announced on August 19, 2009 as part of GamesCon 2009. Johan Andersson, the lead programmer for Paradox Interactive at the time, talked about the changes in gameplay compared to the previous game and showed the first screenshots of the game, which showed a map of Europe and various interface elements. Shortly after the announcement of the game, the head of Paradox Interactive Studios, Fredrik Wester, publicly stated that, due to the low sales of the first game, he did not believe in the success of Victoria 2, he voted for another project to be put in development, and that he was ready to shave his head should the game see a profit. On the contrary, Johan Andersson, the initiator of the project, was confident that the game would be successful, referring to the requests and votes by fans and the opinion of the development team. In the end, Andersson and Wester made a bet that, if Victoria 2 was successful, Wester would shave is head, and if it was not, he would have sole control over which game would release next. It was revealed in a German interview with Fredrik that 70,000 copies would need to be sold for Victoria II to be profitable. On June 17, 2010, when it became known that there would be many pre-orders giving the game good sales, Wester asked Jessica Chobot at
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
to shave his head and upload the pictures to
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. The game was developed by a development team consisting of producer, designer and programmer Johan Andersson, project leader and programmer Thomas Johansson, designer and tester Christopher King, programmers Dan Lind, Fredrik Zetterman, Olof Björk, Henrik Vohraeus, Bjorn Johannessen, Sara Wendel-Ertqvist, artists Yunus Jakobsson, Fredrik Persson and composer Andreas Waldetoft. The development team covered the progress of development in their diaries, which were published to Paradox's official forum by Christopher King. Between November 2009 and June 2010, 29 numbered diaries and two bonus diaries were published. A working beta version of Victoria II was demonstrated in June 2010 at the E3 show held in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. The game was presented by the producer, Johan Andersson, who demonstrated the main gameplay and talked about innovations the game would bring. On August 10, 2010, a playable demo was released, allowing you to play as the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.


Gameplay

''Victoria II'' spans the globe from 1836 to 1936 with over 200 playable nations.Victoria II Announcement
, Paradox Plaza
Like its predecessor, ''Victoria II'' focuses on internal management, covering the industrialization and social/political changes in a country with 8 different government types. The game gives a lot of importance to the economy of a country by having a complex
market system A market system (or market ecosystem) is any systematic process enabling many market players to offer and demand: helping buyers and sellers interact and make deals. It is not just the price mechanism but the entire system of regulation, quali ...
with over 50 types of goods and factories. While warfare is a component of the game it is not the primary focus as in other Paradox Interactive games such as the ''
Hearts of Iron ''Hearts of Iron'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Strategy First. Based on the Europa Engine, it was originally released in 2002 for Microsoft Windows. A Mac OS version was released by Virt ...
'' series. Nations' populations are divided into cultures, religions, classes and
occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...
. There are several different population groups (or "pops"), such as aristocrats,
army officers An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, clergy, soldiers,
labourers A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries e ...
,
slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, bureaucrats and others. As in other Paradox titles such as ''
Europa Universalis ''Europa Universalis'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published in 2000 by Strategy First. Development The game was originally based on a French board game of the same name by Philippe Thibaut that w ...
'', historical missions called "decisions", which are micro-objectives in the larger game, have been added. There are thousands of historical events and decisions as well. These events and decisions can lead to the creation or disintegration of nation states. ''Victoria II'' contains a number of changes and improvements from its predecessor. The interface was streamlined when compared to the original game, which was described by producer Johan Andersson as, "the interface God forgot". Automation of various tasks has been added, including trade and population promotion. The education system has received an overhaul by having clergy educate people of the same religion, and each population group now has their own
literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
levels. Education and literacy's importance is reflected in the vast technology system that contains thousands of inventions. Additionally, the functioning of ideology in the game was tweaked such that population groups are more sensitive to changes in their country's situation, as well as inclined to agitate for specific levels of political and social reforms.


Economy

The economic system in ''Victoria II'' attempts to simulate the flow of resources in a world market. Every province in the game produces a resource in resource gathering operations (RGOs). Some resources, such as wheat, are demanded principally by the population. Other materials, like iron, are consumed primarily by
industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...
, but are still tradeable. The production and unemployment system from the original ''Victoria'' has been revised to better reflect market forces, whereas in the original, the state provided the funds for resources and the player possessed a wide range of options with which to build their economy, provided they had access to the proper
raw material A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...
s. All resources can be collected or produced by industry. The game also has a cottage production system simulating pre-industrial economies.


Diplomacy

''Victoria II'' contains a deep
political simulation A government simulation or political simulation is a game that attempts to simulate the government and politics of all or part of a nation. These games may include Geopolitics, geopolitical situations (involving the formation and execution of for ...
reflected in 8 different types of governments, 7 ideologies and a new
sphere of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal al ...
system,
gunboat diplomacy In international politics, the term gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of naval power, implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare should terms not be agreeable to th ...
, and a new election system with
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
s and legislatures. The diplomacy in ''Victoria II'' is similar to that of other Paradox titles. Each country has a relation value of −200 to +200 which represents how much they like each other. Diplomatic and in-game actions shift this relationship around and it factors into the AI's decisions. However, Paradox Interactive has expanded parts of this system. War goals from
Heir to the Throne An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
, an expansion for
Europa Universalis III ''Europa Universalis III'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in January 2007, and was later ported to OS X by Virtual Progra ...
have been integrated though they function in a slightly different way. More war goals can be added as the war progresses, although this depends on the population's temperament. Failure to achieve a war goal will increase the population's militancy, which can lead to revolts as well as a loss of prestige. In the game controlling a
Great Power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...
, one of the eight countries with highest total score, gives special diplomatic options not available to other countries. Great Powers do not just influence how a country sees them; they have the added ability to use their influence on other countries to change their perception of other Great Powers. The struggle for influence that the Great Powers wage around the world is not a simple bilateral basis but occurs with each other inside different countries, giving an added dimension to diplomacy which was not present in the original Victoria.


Warfare

Warfare is regarded as a lesser priority than politics and economics in ''Victoria II'', though it follows the basic pattern used in other Paradox grand strategy games, with armies moving between provinces and engaging enemy armies and capturing enemy territory. The basic combat system is a combination of the systems used in ''
Europa Universalis III ''Europa Universalis III'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in January 2007, and was later ported to OS X by Virtual Progra ...
'', '' Europa Universalis: Rome'', and ''
Hearts of Iron III ''Hearts of Iron III'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The Microsoft Windows version of the game was released on August 7, 2009, while the Mac OS X version was released ...
''. A key component to combat is "frontage": the number of units in an army at the
front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...
, which decreases as technology improves to simulate the change from the roving armies of the
Napoleonic Era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative ...
to the continuous trench lines of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Several aspects of the military have been changed from ''Victoria''. The base unit has been reduced from a 10,000-unit division to a 3,000-unit
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...
, which is no longer raised from a national manpower pool but directly raised from a provincial soldier POP, to which the brigade remains connected. A new aspect to the military is
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
. This is a value that gives a bonus (or penalty, if low) to capturing provinces and defeating enemy armies; in prolonged combat, however, the reconnaissance value drops. Units such as cavalry and aeroplanes have high reconnaissance values and are intended to be used as scouts. The overall objective is to move your country on into a new era, in a period of great change.


Expansions

''Victoria II'' has received two main expansion packs, as well as minor cosmetic DLC.


''A House Divided''

''A House Divided'' was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 as an expansion pack with an aim on " mproving thepolitical and economical aspects of the game, with focus on the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
era". It was released on February 2, 2012, for Windows and on March 30, 2012, for OS X; it is currently only available for purchase by download. It includes the following features: *A new starting point in 1861, allowing players to experience the American Civil War from the start. *The ability to manufacture
reasons In the most general terms, a reason is a consideration which justifies or explains an action, a belief, an attitude, or a fact. ''Normative reasons'' are what people appeal to when making arguments about what people should do or believe. For exam ...
to go to war with other countries, all in the name of the great game of power. * For uncivilized countries, various new reform paths to ultimately become equal to the western nations. *The ability for Great Powers to invest in building infrastructure and factories in other countries to strengthen their ties to them. *A deeper political system with new national focus options and new types of reform. *A new system of popular movements that can be appeased or suppressed, but if ignored, will become the revolutionaries of tomorrow. *An improved interface, with more information easily available and improving gameplay. *
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
is now divided into cliques, known as substates, allowing for more interaction in the Far East.


''Heart of Darkness''

The ''Victoria II: Heart of Darkness'' expansion was released on April 16, 2013. It includes the following features: *A brand new
colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
system; *A new
naval combat Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...
system; *Significant changes to land combat (particularly
forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, recon/siege); *A number of top-level interface upgrades including many new map modes; *Introduction of international crises and many events, allowing smaller nations to achieve their aims with the aid of Great Powers; *Introduction of newspapers which provide information about events around the world; and *Several tweaks to industrial production.


Other DLC

A selection of smaller DLC has been made available for purchase for ''Victoria II''. These have little to no effect on gameplay but alter the game's appearance or music, and are significantly less expensive than their larger counterparts.


Music packs

* ''Victoria II: Songs of the Civil War'' Special pre-order content: * ''Victoria II: Lament For The Queen''


Cosmetic packs

* ''Victoria II: A House Divided – American Civil War Spritepack'' * ''Victoria II: German Unit Pack'' * ''Victoria II: Interwar Engineer Unit Pack'' * ''Victoria II: Interwar Cavalry Unit Pack'' * ''Victoria II: Interwar Spritepack'' * ''Victoria II: Interwar Artillery Spritepack'' * ''Victoria II: Planes Spritepack''


Reception

Victoria II received generally favourable reviews, achieving a 75% average on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' said that there was much less
micromanagement In business management, micromanagement is a management style whereby a manager closely observes, controls, and/or reminds the work of their subordinates or employees. Micromanagement is generally considered to have a negative connotation, main ...
than in its predecessor. The reviewer stated: "Thanks to a friendlier interface and tutorials, Victoria II is a lot more playable and enjoyable than its predecessor."Gamespot
'' GameShark'' was less enthusiastic. The reviewer said: "As a strategy game, Victoria II frustrates me. It is an orgy of detail for detail's sake, yet the information I really want never seems to be at hand. The decisions I make seem mostly inconsequential, changing the game only by a slow process of accretion. Modeling has overtaken game design. Watching Victoria II is hypnotic and frequently awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, you only occasionally might want to play it."GameShark
The release of ''A House Divided'' drew increased praise and averaged 76% on Metacritic, and ''Heart of Darkness'' further increased positive reviews, averaging 81%. ''Gaming Nexus'' gave the final product a verdict of 8.5 ("very good") and commented that "after some patching and a couple of expansions, ''Victoria 2'' is rounding into shape. It is still deep with a killer learning curve, but it is starting to feel like a fun game rather than a buggy spreadsheet."


Sequel

In an Ask Me Anything thread on
Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
in October 2013, PDS manager Johan Andersson stated that they would consider making a sequel to ''Victoria II'', but that this would likely come after ''
Hearts of Iron IV ''Hearts of Iron IV'', also known as HOI4, is a grand strategy computer wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released worldwide on 6 June 2016. It is the sequel to 2009's ''Hearts of Iron II ...
''. In December 2015, a beta patch was made for ''Victoria II'', long after it was assumed that no further patches would be released. This prompted speculation that there could be refreshed interest in the ''Victoria'' series, although in a Reddit thread these rumours were played down by Paradox developers. During an interview for the company's Paradox Podcast in February 2018, CEO Fredrik Wester mentioned "I'm not a firm believer that Victoria II is the most prioritised game to make a sequel out of", that he won't be the one making the decision either and that it would come "before 2025". At PDXCON 2021,
Victoria 3 ''Victoria 3'' is a 2022 grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It is a sequel to the 2010 game ''Victoria II'' and was released on 25 October 2022. Gameplay ''Victoria 3'' spa ...
was announced.
Victoria 3 ''Victoria 3'' is a 2022 grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It is a sequel to the 2010 game ''Victoria II'' and was released on 25 October 2022. Gameplay ''Victoria 3'' spa ...
was released on 25 October 2022.


See also

*
List of grand strategy video games This is an index of grand strategy video games, sorted chronologically. Information regarding date of release, developer, platform, setting, and notability is provided when available. The table can be sorted by clicking on the small boxes next ...
*
List of Paradox Interactive games This is a list of video games developed, published and/or distributed by video game publisher Paradox Interactive. Published games Developed games Cancelled and unreleased games Several games announced by Paradox as being in development have ...
*
List of PC games The following list of PC games contains an alphabetized and segmented table of video games that are playable on the PC, but not necessarily exclusively on the PC. It includes games for multiple PC operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, DOS, Uni ...


References


External links

*
Official wiki
{{Paradox development studio games 2010 video games American Civil War video games Business simulation games Computer wargames Government simulation video games Grand strategy video games MacOS games Paradox Interactive games Real-time strategy video games Victorian era in popular culture Video game sequels Video games with expansion packs Windows games Video games developed in Sweden Video games set in the 19th century Video games set in the 20th century Video games set in the British Empire 1C Company games Multiplayer and single-player video games