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Victoria II
Carefully guide your nation from the era of absolute monarchies in the early 19th century, through expansion and colonization, to finally become a truly great power by the dawn of the 20th century. Victoria II is a grand strategy game played during the colonial era of the 19th century, where the pla
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
20 of the 102 reviews raise this.
““I did not seek hegemony; it merely emerged as the most rational administrative outcome.” Victoria 2 is a masterclass in grand strategy. Its intricate simulation of 19th century politics, economics, and society creates…”
“To me this the best game by Paradox. The learning curve is somewhat high, but after overcoming it and learning the mechanics, this is one of the best Grand strategy games out there. 600+ hours spent on this and still…”
“while it does show its age, this is still a peak paradox experience, specially with mods, highly recommend”
4 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Old game with good graphics and always works.”
“This is by far the best game paradox has made. The deep economic simulation means wars are fought over resources and influence more than cheap land grabs. The game simulates combat to a suprisingly deep level,…”
“Game is extremely dull. There's absolutely zero flavor and frankly it has not aged very well. Military is completely awful and the economy is just a bunch of nonsense. Actually interesting and interactive diplomacy is…”
4 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Absolute gem. My first ever love is this game. It may not be the most popular paradox game, but in my heart it still has a special place. Although i have overpaid for it, i didn't regret a single moment those money. So…”
“It's ass, worth your money!”
4 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Absolute gem. My first ever love is this game. It may not be the most popular paradox game, but in my heart it still has a special place. Although i have overpaid for it, i didn't regret a single moment those money. So…”
“It's kind of a timeless classic with great moddability just be prepared for the occasional crash if you play big mods (I got GFM to work on Linux somehow lol but it can be unstable at times) and also MP is just asking…”
3 of the 102 reviews raise this.
“Old game with good graphics and always works.”
“One of the more realistic Paradox games for sure in that it's really hard to get anything done politically. Economy's pretty good mechanic-wise but this is definitely the game where you need to experiment with the…”
7 of the 102 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“One of the best strategy games ever made . I wish it still could be played ( always crashes ) . 10/10”
“One of the more realistic Paradox games for sure in that it's really hard to get anything done politically. Economy's pretty good mechanic-wise but this is definitely the game where you need to experiment with the…”
“It's kind of a timeless classic with great moddability just be prepared for the occasional crash if you play big mods (I got GFM to work on Linux somehow lol but it can be unstable at times) and also MP is just asking…”
7 of the 102 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“Infinite clicking simulator. Why can't I set a policy once to stop getting 1 billion inconsequential pop-ups about tea or influenza or the underground railroad that pause the game every time? Why do I have to manually…”
“The game in and of itself isn't that good, though with some mods it truly becomes outstanding...”
“this game holds a special place in my heart. ass without mods tho”
6 of the 102 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“To me this the best game by Paradox. The learning curve is somewhat high, but after overcoming it and learning the mechanics, this is one of the best Grand strategy games out there. 600+ hours spent on this and still…”
“Out of games like HOI4, EU4, CK3, ect from what ive played, this to me is the most confusing to play and manage of the lot, but it is still much fun after a while, buy this over Vic 3 if you are thinking of getting…”
“One of the more realistic Paradox games for sure in that it's really hard to get anything done politically. Economy's pretty good mechanic-wise but this is definitely the game where you need to experiment with the…”
5 of the 102 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“**A Review of *Victoria II*** *By Arthur Schopenhauer* One beholds the screen and is struck first by its poverty. The map is functional, no more; the interface is a grey expanse of ledgers and tabs, devoid of charm,…”
“Infinite clicking simulator. Why can't I set a policy once to stop getting 1 billion inconsequential pop-ups about tea or influenza or the underground railroad that pause the game every time? Why do I have to manually…”
“0/10 terrible game, cant see the ui.”
5 of the 102 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“**A Review of *Victoria II*** *By Arthur Schopenhauer* One beholds the screen and is struck first by its poverty. The map is functional, no more; the interface is a grey expanse of ledgers and tabs, devoid of charm,…”
“This is the best victoria game in the series victoria 3 isnt real, or at least thats what I choose to believe , ♥♥♥♥ paradox greedy company always charging too much for slop. Anyway yes its a good game.”
“This game is genuinely ass, it's over 20 years and the combat is horrible, the mechs are slow and you must have a 10$ dlc to even enjoy it a little, i'd genuinely get a refund on this if i haven't bought it over 2 years…”
Counted across 102 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 92.2% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“This game had the devs put a lot of love and effort into it, and it shows. Unfortunately, I can't get the same enjoyment from the game's successor. Even the naming convention changed from Vic II to Vic 3. I often go back to this masterpiece that visually looks like a quarterly…”
— a player, Steam review · 23 hrs played“Not for everyone, but this remains my favorite game of all time. Unlike newer PDX games, you will not have all the info and secrets shoved into your face. You will struggle mightily to learn and use your limited high school level economics education to move sliders around. You…”
— a player, Steam review · 761 hrs played“Welcome to Victoria II. We have: - Yellow Prussia - Jacobin & Socialist Revolt - 6th Opium War - camps in Yugoslavia - sPAIN & Fattoman - minor's struggle - Comet Sighted! - Event 4434, 4435, 60120, 80003”
— a player, Steam review · 433 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 11:47 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Victoria II security update May 4th
Hi! After discovering a minor potential securty problem we decided to patch the game to correct it. Patch notes: - Fixed additional Lua vulnerabilities This should not change anything noticeable for y
Victoria II Security Update
Greetings! To resolve a security issue tied to the way LUA libraries were loaded for mods we released a minor update. This update will not change your version number or cheksum, and save files should
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Strategy |
| Player tags | Grand Strategy · Strategy · Historical · Political Sim · Politics · Economy · Simulation · Real-Time with Pause · Military · World War I · War · Sandbox (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Steam Trading Cards · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English, French, German |
| Estimated owners | 1,000,000 – 2,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | http://www.victoria2.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Recommended: OS: XP/Vista/Windows7 Processor: Intel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+ Memory: 2 Gb RAM Hard Disk Space: 2 GB Available HDD Space Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900 Sound Card: DirectX® compatible Controller support: 3-button mouse, keyboard and speakers Special multiplayer requirements: Internet Connection for multiplayer