Europa Universalis 4's Wealth of Nations expansion detailed by Paradox

Last week, Miami was subjected to an unlikely Scandinavian invasion, as Paradox - along with their horde of strategy fanatics - descended for the annual Paradox Conference. It was the new games - Hearts of Iron 4 and Runemaster - that made the biggest impact during announcement day , but expansion packs for the studio's two big strategy games were also announced. One of them, Europa Universalis 4's upcoming Wealth of Nations DLC, has now been explained in more detail.

"Wealth of Nations will bring several new features to the game, focusing on trade," Paradox explain in a press release, "including the ability to secretly provoke trade conflicts, hire pirates to steal goods from your competitors, establish the East India Company and create a bustling trade capital for your nation. With several new possible ways to direct the wealth of the world into an empire's coffers, Wealth of Nations will serve the needs of every gamer's inner plutocrat."

Wealth of Nations will heavily expand the game's trade systems, adding privateers, trade conflicts and trading companies. The full feature list goes into more detail on the DLC's promised improvements:

• "The Invisible Hand of the Market: You can act covertly to instigate trade conflicts among the competition, stifling income and leaving yourself atop the economic heap.

• "Seize the Seas: Hiring privateers can damage enemy shipments and cripple their trade, but risks retaliation in the form of open warfare if you are caught.

• "Capitalize: Empires can designate a specific port as their trade capital, separate from their national capital, and strengthen local trade routes through the use of inland trade nodes.

• "Monopolize and Mobilize: Form an East India Company and reach faraway trade partners with an unstoppable shipping concern."

Wealth of Nations is due out in "Q2" 2014, which in human speak is somewhere between April and June.