The most played Paradox Games 2011 - 2022 | Top Paradox Games by daily peak players

Looking back at how Paradox's games have performed. This is a graphical visualization of the most played Paradox Games of the last 11 years based on the average daily peak number of players on steam.
The following games are included:
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun
Victoria II
Victoria 3
Crusader Kings
Crusader Kings 2
Crusader Kings 3
Europa Universalis III
Europa Universalis IV
Europa Universalis: Rome
Hearts of Iron II
Hearts of Iron III
Hearts of Iron IV
March of the Eagles
Sengoku
Stellaris
Imperator: Rome
Cities: Skylines
AOW: Planetfall
Surviving the Aftermath
Surviving Mars
Prison Architect (I've included its data from release not Paradox's acquisition in 2019)
Empire of Sin
Tyranny
Battletech
The following games are not included due to no available data:
Europa Universalis
Europa Universalis II
Hearts of Iron
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#Paradox #CK2 #CK3 #EU3 #EU4 #VIC #VIC2 #Stellars #Imperator #HOI3 #HOI4 #Sengoku #victoria3 #Citiesskylines #tyranny #planetfall #survivingmars #empireofsin #battletech

[@GeneralPol]

Check out the new version updated with data from 2023: kzbin.infoXx8p_7cjq30

[@smashdown958]

Stellaris peaking on every content drop😂

[@liphrium9858]

For real 😂😂😂

[@brandoncampanaro7571]

Lol 😂😂😂

[@warthundercanblunder850]

Those dlc like utopia and apocalypse were fire when they came

[@El_Presidente_5337]

​@@warthundercanblunder850 Apocalypse was kinda mid what do you mean? 💀

[@warthundercanblunder850]

@@El_Presidente_5337 literally a massive overhaul came with it i remember from frontier outposts to starbases

[@g.ricepad9470]

Shoutout to the 13 dudes playing Vic 1

[@YusukeKage_]

Yo one of em here

[@No.U]

I'm not a consistent player of the game, but it does have a lot going for it... especially in terms of scenarios

[@Lucrei.]

I have to give a proper shot one of these days. Vicky 2 is awesome

[@philipweber9545]

The same dozen chads playing the game for a decade straight

[@fortyfive_]

Vic 1 players: 🗿🍷

[@Hazza75]

Hoi4 such a good game

[@GeneralPol]

Yup, but I didn't realise just how popular it is!

[@GeneralPol]

@@Suck_my_juicyFatcock ah it is, but start off with the basics and build up ur knowledge

[@theArgent44]

Others are better. Hoi4 is more popular simply bc teens like ww2 too much and hoi4 is way more simple compared to others.

[@E333E]

​@@theArgent44 try the naval combat if you think the game is simple 💀

[@theArgent44]

@Undergord just crack them. That's what everyone does.

[@Kyle_Daniel]

Love how you can tell when dlc is released.

[@GeneralPol]

Yup, the num of players explodes

[@LordDucarius]

eu4 is what made paradox grand strategy games so popular, was my first pdx game too

[@johnroscoe2406]

They were popular before EU4 wtf are you talking about

[@dongh8er821]

​@@johnroscoe2406obviously not as popular as they were after eu4. By a margin of like 70%

[@Briosification]

​@@johnroscoe2406eu4 was the first to hit 10k players. That's a decent benchmark. Ck2 barley hit 5k. Ck2 secured them as an indie studio that could take risks, Eu4 made them an AA developer.

[@particularstimuli9507]

eu4 is pretty surprising to me because of how much harder to get into compared to other games, and it’s also by far the most complex one imo.

[@piellamp]

​@particularstimuli9507 eu4 made huge improvements in ui and tooltips compared to previous paradox games which probly increased its popularity

[@sik3xploit]

Crusader Kings 2 never gave up

[@Stanczyyk]

Cuz it's the best

[@ratsoupchef]

currently im trying to get all ck2 achievements (153/161) and imo ck3 needs another 3-4 years to top the second game

[@No.U]

Because it's as good as ck3

[@Kyuschi]

​@@Stanczyykmaking it free also helped

[@dylan__dog]

its cuz CK3 is ass and will remain ass until they add more content

[@NoFlu]

Shoutout to the 5-10 guys on that March of the Eagles Grindset. Real gangsters I wouldn't wanna cross

[@No.U]

I have definitely contributed more to the MotE statistics than the average player... unfortunately

[@seamusfinnegan1164]

CK2 refuseing to die even after CK3 comes out, may not be on top, but people will forever play it, its a classic.

[@Pacbandit13]

It's the Goat

[@omimo12]

it also free which makes it a lot easier to get your friends addicted when they don't have to pay for it.

[@88b13]

Victoria 2 is underrated

[@unpapucomoculquierotro]

Yes

[@tyrannosauruscock]

It’s so good I’m an addicg

[@Apokalypse456]

@karolfrancogarduno3789 i sure hope openvic works out and we have a worthy successor in 5 years or so

[@HappyBazinga]

Sadly the sequel was a disapointment

[@iremyurtoglu]

It was really popular bro not underrated

[@OnionIlan]

Once you play HOI4, *You can’t stop playing it*

[@FRWA00]

I stopped lol

[@Xian..]

I play a game on roblox that PLAYS THE EXCACT SAME MUSIC and I used to be addicted

[@Xian..]

@@mistjor6286bro this is why I hate little 11 year olds saying “yuck roblox is a kids lego block game” it is not it has games that can ruin your god damn pc so shut up 11 year old and it is actually a good strategy game so learn before you make bogus claims

[@papiezpp]

And you discover my little pony mod tha has more content than base game

[@AsukaLangleyS02]

Yes you can, EU4 is better/

[@kenayrv386]

I did not realize that Stellaris got SO popular everytime there was a new DLC or update 😂

[@FeL_IX0592]

The power of trailers

[@PaladinElliott]

It’s undeniably the best of the pdx games it just doesn’t have a large fandom like hoi/EU/CS/CK

[@SleepyLazyPanda]

poor Imperator:Rome *sadge*

[@Captain_Mercury]

Imperator rome is best girl we love her

[@neiretzlik4337]

Remember kids, pirating Paradox games is easy and not immoral Edit: Some of y'all are just funny with trying to defend the management of Paradox after all this shit. This case is closed. Go pirate some stuff, and not pay $600 for your favorite games to be fun and complete. If you want to support developer, do it, but don't feed the CEOs of Paradox who have their pockets stuffed with revenue from DLCs which contents have a profit margin of 780%

[@Amogus-gu9cp]

Well i pirate only DLS cause its wery expensive

[@odiadordeisrael]

I'm not paying for a bajillion DLCs.

[@Albania4life535]

So your telling me i can pirate crusader kings 3 and not pay that ridicuolos amount of money

[@Amogus-gu9cp]

@@Albania4life535 yes sir

[@neiretzlik4337]

@@Albania4life535 Yup. If Paradox doesn't seriously change their monetizing system then I highly reccomend pirating their games.

[@ruler898]

It's actually pretty cool that you see the player base grow in general. Overall most IPs have gained players over the years and some higher peaks. Say what you want; but their dlc model does grow their games instead of just iterating to a sequel for that paycheck

[@hobolecho8507]

I only seen 3 comments talking about the poor fate of Imperator Rome. This game is massivley underrated. I recomend giving it a try since its on the summer sale on Steam rn

[@GeneralPol]

Its not a bad game, especially when you use mods like invictus

[@humpteedumptee8629]

It’s just eu Roma with better graphics. And more countries.

[@pride2184]

It is a bad game why they no longer support it. Everyone pretending its not bad game are delusional. And i love every game with rome in it. I formed rome and wc in eu4 20 times 😂😂 every patch. I top leaderboards on rome total war. Got every rome game..its a bad game.

[@MrGazlo]

so good with invictus !

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

If you play just Imperator? Yeah it's a bad game. Mods are essentially what makes the game now. And even then it's only mid.

[@kilerman6969]

EU4 is a hell of a drug.

[@GeneralPol]

Yes, yes it is

[@luizffortes]

EU4 is more like a hobby than a game. I just finished the tutorial at 4,5k hours.

[@hoppy78]

I kinda expected Stellaris,HOI4,EU4 and CK3 but City Skylines was a surprise!

[@GeneralPol]

Cities Skylines is doing very well for itself

[@michaziemski2492]

Cities has a more mainstream appeal

[@Dorian102]

They even releasing cities skyline 2 in october 28

[@kazakhstanisastate4614]

cities is the most main stream of all of them

[@kingseb2252]

I love stellaris so much

[@lololol246]

Nice

[@luftim]

You feel more godly in that game

[@kenayrv386]

Same

[@nightwingdemon]

​@@luftimno other game has given me a God complex before except for maybe Planetary Annihilation: Titans, but even then Stellaris makes you really feel how much powerful you get compared to the AI. Still never fails to put a smile on my face when the Pathetic empires start throwing their sovreignty away for me.

[@natsumercury]

Paradox=GOAT of videogame

[@LaVaZ000]

Stellaris peaking on DLCs

[@GeneralPol]

They pull me back every time!

[@insertusername310]

Nobody talking about how fun making the most dysfunctional city to ever exist in cities skylines is.

[@HerrLindstrom]

I love how HoI4 still has a solid lead at the top since 2018-2019 until present 😂

[@RealCodreX]

The power of funny german man.

[@bigbo1764]

Everyone should give Imperator another shot, especially with invictus; the game was improved a lot in 2.0 and, with the 2.0.4 beta, you can earn achievements using some mods, such as invictus.

[@GeneralPol]

Absolutely agree 👍

[@trivane626]

Proof that ck2 is a timeless classic

[@GeneralPol]

Agreed!

[@boctopus9823]

I prefer ck2 over ck3, maybe once all the dlc comes out for ck3 it will be more fun

[@melkormorgothbauglir.4848]

@@boctopus9823 I have hope that culture systems looks pretty fun and man-at-arms too but they need societies and mods are looking amazing right now I just miss supernatural events.

[@thepooterengineer6633]

It's insane how even after the release of ck2 EU3 still remained very relevant , even managing to beat VIC 2 and Hoi3. Really shows how good EU3 was

[@Pacbandit13]

My first paradox game, it's got amazing atmosphere

[@biggybrolunch3809]

That's some decent production queue micro.

[@TheMaztercom]

They should changue hoi4 name fue goofy simulator 4

[@RyRy2057]

Imperator Rome :((

[@GeneralPol]

It never stood a chance 😢

[@spacecats2185]

It’s the best Paradox game imo it was just dropped by Paradox because they failed to make it into something before it died

[@CivilizedWasteland]

@@spacecats2185 same with march of the eagles, a lot of good mechanics that was all just scrapped and never seen again

[@Livvvid]

Love that hearts of iron is on top. First paradox game was EU4. Lots of fun and memories. It felt like a game made from my dreams or something. But ultimately hoi4 became my favorite

[@redcorruption4561]

HOI4: I HAVE THE POWER OF RACISM IN MY SIDE🗣️‼️‼️‼️

[@BorealisCrusader]

Ain't nobody beating the HOI4 GOAT

[@betxverse]

Yes, the game is so fun!

[@VivaCristoRei9]

victoria 2 >>>

[@deletepiper]

@@VivaCristoRei9🤓

[@titanicbigship]

Prison architect, city, skylines, and stellaris are better

[@fortyfive_]

Stellaris when a DLC drops:

[@JoseRodriguez-xu1jz]

Some of these games are published but Paradox but not developed tho. If there was a convertor for a non-developed but published Paradox game, which one would you choose?

[@GeneralPol]

Yeah last year I did only games Paradox developed, but thought I'd expand it for this one. As for a game to convert to, Surviving Mars? would help bridge the gap between HOI4 & Stellaris

[@vhh0763]

paradox games on release are pretty bad and then they make around 10 DLC's all for the same price as the actual game to make it playable

[@Seelenverheizer]

Hoi4 having such high numbers is shocking

[@thebigflop3118]

EU4 Stellaris and HOI4 ultimate clash

[@GeneralPol]

A battle for the ages!

[@himmlerchungus6625]

Love that you can just tell when a DLC drops

[@w5527]

Seeing HOI4 and Cities Skylines yo there consistently brought me much joy as they’re 2 of my favorite games on my top 5

[@Letnan8100]

I’ve finally found someone with the same taste!

[@Spawner5221]

F in the chat for Imperator

[@ekscalybur]

Paradox dropped the ball on that one so hard.

[@jeremiahblake3949]

The fact that ck2 is still in the thousands even though ck3 has been out 2 1/2 years shows how great it is

[@GeneralPol]

100%

[@zed3443]

Its free thats why

[@GeneralPol]

@@zed3443 and awesome 😁

[@firebird4491]

@@zed3443 CK2 is pretty bare bones without DLC. With DLC it’s much better in my opinion than CK3

[@flaviananton9070]

More like how shit CK3 is

[@sweal8660]

Stelaris having mood swings

[@hemanpaudel5844]

Eu4 is so much fun I still play it so much diversity in mechanics especially with the Mughals

[@Marecek123]

prison architect, hoi4 very good games

[@king_fisherXX]

I may or may not be one of the people keeping CK3 alive with my 810.2 hours 🍵👀

[@omarsaccani3977]

Imperator rome is absolutely underestimated!

[@mr.smiely8725]

You can never go wrong with stellaris

[@GeneralPol]

Its now over taken EU4 as my most play PDX game

[@notaspy3099]

Ck3 is so underrated

[@Jonslau]

Especially with the AGOT mod.

[@Chadius_Thundercock]

Absolutely shallow compared to ck2

[@luzekiel9343]

and underappreciated

[@spacecats2185]

It’s overrated wdym. Ck2 is still 100 times better

[@Hunter-cx6]

Peoples loves it theres many youtube chanel about it. What do you want more? Some games doesnt for everyone.

[@dongh8er821]

Hoi4 has the ultimate map painting satisfaction imo

[@lobnop]

eu4 price: 😃 eu4 dlc:💀

[@GeneralPol]

😂

[@beanie5851]

Every game just spikes when they release a DLC 😂

[@dinamosflams]

shoutout to the 3 guys that play victoria 1!

[@artquimine2170]

Now HOI4 rules the waves I see

[@Palpatine001]

Cities Skylines Enters the Chat (April 2015) Stellaris: HOLD MY GALAXY

[@lemoi08]

I am so addicted to imperator Rome right now, I cannot stop playing

[@mastrorick]

Every game: war, dictatorship, human crimes Cities Skylines: *building* 🏢

[@yusokmihof1606]

I’m here to give victoria II the love it deserves ❤️

[@spacebory]

For some reason my mind physically cannot comprehend that prison architect is older than Hearts of Iron

[@prototype102010]

I find this fascinating! I was watching a video a few days ago where someone said HOI4 was PDX's MOST popular game. Looking at it's steep complexity compared to even EU4 as a new player I found that hard to believe, but the stats don't lie!

[@johnphillips4776]

Imperator Rome is actually underrated and I hate how Paradox abandoned it. I also hate that they failed on Victoria 3

[@GeneralPol]

Yeah Imperator was a shame, I'll be making an updated version of this at the end of the year, will be interesting to see how Victoria 3 performs

[@Mr.flo44]

I didn't realize two of my most favorite games are from the same studio! cs and hoi4!

[@GeneralPol]

😀

[@rellikskuppin7417]

Stellaris and Hoi are just so good

[@butterfly.boujee]

this is like playing a paradox game on fastest and having 9 million things pop up at once

[@yupthatsthomas]

Imperator: Rome is so underrated. Great game, love the population mechanics.

[@JohnCena-zt8kh]

Every patch and new dlc is illustrated perfectly here

[@mp5_glitch947]

i used to not know paradox made anything outside of cities skylines now i know they make all my fav games never knew they did war games

[@thedrugdealerinthehomedepot]

As an eu4 player I am happy to see our game clinging on for dear life at the top 3

[@openlyracist8055]

Europa Universalis seems to be the top game always in the top slots each month, and only recently losing position to hoi. I doubt hoi can hold the position after a EUV

[@luizffortes]

Curious to see the CS2 numbers.

[@TheCoolLama]

HoI4 is hands down the best ww2 TRUE rts game there is covering everything. I'm not surprised it's #1 (it sure is my favorite). The frontline system is what makes this game different, SUCCESSFUL, fun and replayable (bc let's be honest, who likes to micro everything on a world map? You're a leader, you give orders to marshals -> generals by making battleplans and hit the GO button, which is far far faaar superior than micromanaging doom stacks) which the other pdx games don't have. Mix that in with air and water and you got a recipe for success regarding warfare.

[@GeneralPol]

Its defo the most strategic of the pdx games

[@jonny-b4954]

It does dumb down some of HOI3's more endearing mechanics. Or reworks them in ways that essentially equal dumbing down. It's still really great though. Now that the blackice mod has finally reached HOI3 levels, I'm happy. And we finally have fuel and supply system that isn't just a worthless number that means nothing.

[@AsukaLangleyS02]

@@jonny-b4954 Yeah, HOI 3 is a better game.

[@sherlocat1946]

@@jonny-b4954 its more simple than other games. there is no money. you make factories to make military factories. you use them to make guns tanks and you conquer. as simple as that. when you look someone playing eu4/ck2/vic2 you think wtf is he doing.

[@frostysharkboi]

I never realised EU4 was so popular for so long

[@GeneralPol]

A real testament to it

[@awestruckbeaver3344]

Love the fact that Victoria 2 still has over a 1000 players. Even though the next game in the series is out

[@staff4226]

My first pdx game was cities skylines, then i played ck3 a lot, and now I'm playing ck2 a little and imperator rome.

[@JJmusic1915]

March of the eagles constantly being at the bottom part satifies me

[@marsh2537]

Feel so old having played Vicky 2 on release 💀

[@puttilepuffie]

Paradox need to do what total war did to warhammer. Combine games and set up ww1 and ww2 with 4 starting dates

[@bigbrother6505]

Imperator Rome is so slept on

[@AlexiAtlante]

Would be curious to analize why those increases and decreases

[@loshadka5081]

Just started playing Stellaris My YT shorts:

[@MCPhatman]

Im surprised that my favorite Crusader Kings only hit the top once.

[@edgarorube3641]

I was not expecting skylines to be a force tbh

[@xavodash7847]

Victoria 2 never dies

[@DatBoi_TheGudBIAS]

i love how every new game would instantly jump to first place (probably cuz of the hype) but then would instantly fall to like 5th place

[@khato111]

Respect to the 13 people playing Victoria

[@sergiusthegreat9473]

The New Order mod 💀

[@gaymermoment]

I am honestly surprised that cities skylines isnt at the top, and that stellaris is so low

[@brunette_hunter98]

Their games are educational than my coursework. Good simulation before going into the society as a working professional

[@groerhahn225]

I swear HoI4 benefits massively from all those crazy good mods that came out for it over the years. Not only by giving people reasons to keep playing it, but also by giving the developers new ideas for the base game. Just glad EU4 is finally catching up on that with Anbennar and the LotR mod.

[@Lrzmsibelts]

Ck3 and Hoi4 to me are the best games they ever made, but specially Hoi4.

[@Fermifire]

Someone who has over 5,000 hours on hoi4, can confirm.

[@eduardomelo151]

Playing ck2 to this day

[@carlanderson9068]

I'm kinda surprised how stable BattleTech stayed. Got that hard-core following, I guess

[@vernerfond]

Prison architect 🔥✊

[@gozcu4]

Stellaris fighting

[@DieselMech]

I love how static VIC2 is

[@purpleey]

I wish more people played CK3 its such an excellent game

[@ToastHoarder2]

i didnt know paradox released a battletech game

[@FeL_IX0592]

I hope that the sims-like game they got can uphold like the others

[@alleythetoaster8401]

Shout Out to those 8 guys still playing Sengoku!

[@user-di1vo1cp1k]

Bro, how in the freacking world Cities Skylines have more players than CK3 ☠️☠️☠️☠️

[@crowux]

Tyranny was pretty fun❤

[@trwolf481]

Imperator Rome is making a comeback