Participant numbers for Paradox’s historic technique sim Victoria 3 have been rocky since its 2022 launch. However due to the discharge of the Charters of Commerce DLC earlier this month and a well-timed free-to-play weekend, Victoria 3 has made a serious comeback, with its Steam participant numbers nearly tripling from Might to June.
Since its launch in October 2022, grand technique sport Victoria 3 has struggled to retain gamers. Whereas its peak participant rely at launch was 70,100, Might 2025’s peak participant rely was a meager 9,782.
However the launch of Victoria 3’s newest DLC, Charters of Commerce, on Tuesday June 17, has sparked an enormous comeback for Paradox’s 4X sport. As seen by way of SteamDB, Victoria 3’s participant rely spiked to fifteen,153 on June 17, and continued to climb by way of the remainder of the month, hitting a peak of 26,432 on Saturday, June 21, the best we have seen since November 2023.
Launched alongside the free replace 1.9, the Charters of Commerce DLC provides extra depth to the sport’s commerce system, together with new methods to manage firm enlargement, diplomatic instruments, and distinctive items. Presently, Charters of Commerce boasts a ‘very constructive’ score, with gamers calling it the very best Victoria 3 replace but and praising its revamped methods. Nevertheless it’s probably not solely the standard of this DLC that is pulled in additional individuals.
To coincide with Charters of Commerce’s launch, Paradox Interactive ran a free play weekend from Thursday June 19, to Monday June 23, permitting potential gamers to check out Victoria 3’s base sport and its new DLC free of charge for a restricted time.
Working a restricted free play interval simply days after a brand new DLC launch is a genius transfer by Paradox, and it appears to have paid off in an enormous approach. Whereas the numbers have dropped off a bit, on the time of writing, Victoria 3’s peak participant rely has remained round 20-21K in the previous couple of days. Let’s hope it may sustain the momentum.
In case you’re on the lookout for extra nice video games like Victoria 3, take a look at our picks of the finest 4X video games and the finest technique video games.
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