Europa Universalis 4 demo released, Steam Workshop support confirmed

Countries, eh? With their histories, social philosophies and sense of national pride. It's sickening, really. Luckily, Europa Universalis IV lets you beat up countries, by picking bigger, meaner countries to play as. And Paradox have rather kindly extended this opportunity to all, by releasing a demo ahead of the game's release next week. That's assuming you can work out what all the buttons do.

Head over to Steam to download the trial, handily marked with a "Download Demo" link on this here page . The demo locks you into the 1492 starting date, and gives 28 in-game years to play as Portugal, Venice, Austria or the Ottomans.

If that taster piques your interest, know that Paradox have also confirmed Steam Workshop support for the game. The developer's previously release, Crusader Kings 2, had some excellent mods, often hidden away on the Paradox forums or independent sites. Hopefully this centralised database will make it easier to discover some interesting add-ons.

Europa Universalis IV comes out August 13.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.