My prediction for the future of HOI4

[Nimbusᴼᴸᴳᴵ]

Due to the new strategy of Paradox Interactive, evolving around so called Chapters, we already know what's coming next year.

After Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan had their fair share in a mild case of focus treeus gigantus, we will get a prototype pack. What's pretty interesting is the huge gap between the focus tree DLC and this flavour DLC, I guess the team around HOI4 is getting smaller during that time and I will come to this in a minute.

After the current Chapter, I think there will be one final one, where the developers will release (again) three DLC's, similar to the current one:
• One big DLC
• One focus tree DLC
• One flavour DLC

The contents? Well, here is my prediction:
• One big DLC
Japan and China focus tree rework (including the communist one), adding Focuses to Siam, Mongolia, Tibet and maybe even Tannu-Tuva (for the meme). Paradox will probably handle the mountain states (Bhutan and Nepal) like Luxembourg, ignoring them. Also there will be more quality of life, maybe with new or refined systems, e.g. like naval production and fleet control (to reduce micro).

• One focus tree DLC
Well, there isn't really much left, right? Obviously this must cover the rest of South America and maybe even small focuses for central America / the Caribbeans.

• One flavour DLC
This will probably be a DLC which enhances flavour regarding art (like country based UI, more 3D models or something else in that direction).

The 'worse case scenario' would be two more Chapters instead of only one, where Paradox basically takes what I just wrote but they split it up even more, probably to milk money and buy more time, for something I want to talk about now.

First off: Paradox had a hard time recently and gained a lot of criticism for how they handle new games and especially updates / DLC's. Europa Universalis V is a great example for how the company could be changing their strategy. This successor has not been officially announced, yet it is no secret that this game is being developed and already has been ready for release for some time now. The developers don't want to release EU5, until it reaches a standard that the Paradox Interactive community has probably never seen before, while taking and implementing community feedback beforehand.

Personally, I don't know how much control is being leveraged on a game department within Paradox Interactive and how autonomous they act, like Paradox Tinto (Europa Universalis) compared to the Hearts of Iron team, and weither they have to share their development and release strategy. Therefore, the way EU5 is developed and will be released can differ from other parts within Paradox Interactive, also due to permanent events and changes over time.

Anyway, I guess after the next Chapter, at worst after two Chapters, we will see Hearts of Iron V. It's pretty much very possible. I have been part of this community since the game released and already played HOI3. HOI4 released almost 10 years ago, which seems insane in my mind (how the time flies). I'm pretty sure, if HOI5 is not being developed yet, then they will probably assign a huge junk of the team to set everything up for development starting now or at the start of next year, which could explain the huge gaps for a single flavour DLC. But don't get me wrong, HOI5 will probabably take a few years and we could see an announcement as early as 2026, with a release in 2027 or early 2028.

Feel free to share your thoughts and predictions, maybe also wishes for a possible successor. Personally, I hope the devs will find a better, more flexible and also faster to implement alternative to the concept of focus trees.

[Aluvard]

HOI V will be released 2-3 years after EU V. EU V is still not announced, so your release date is optimistic.

[Homuya]

My prediction:

Completely broken base game for 40€
Actual game released in sniplets until its finished: 500€+

Thats where we are at now. Hope you're happy.

[SdwCdrGhost]

Originally posted by Fickstern:

Due to the new strategy of Paradox Interactive, evolving around so called Chapters, we already know what's coming next year.

After Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan had their fair share in a mild case of focus treeus gigantus, we will get a prototype pack. What's pretty interesting is the huge gap between the focus tree DLC and this flavour DLC, I guess the team around HOI4 is getting smaller during that time and I will come to this in a minute.

After the current Chapter, I think there will be one final one, where the developers will release (again) three DLC's, similar to the current one:
• One big DLC
• One focus tree DLC
• One flavour DLC

The contents? Well, here is my prediction:
• One big DLC
Japan and China focus tree rework (including the communist one), adding Focuses to Siam, Mongolia, Tibet and maybe even Tannu-Tuva (for the meme). Paradox will probably handle the mountain states (Bhutan and Nepal) like Luxembourg, ignoring them. Also there will be more quality of life, maybe with new or refined systems, e.g. like naval production and fleet control (to reduce micro).

• One focus tree DLC
Well, there isn't really much left, right? Obviously this must cover the rest of South America and maybe even small focuses for central America / the Caribbeans.

• One flavour DLC
This will probably be a DLC which enhances flavour regarding art (like country based UI, more 3D models or something else in that direction).

The 'worse case scenario' would be two more Chapters instead of only one, where Paradox basically takes what I just wrote but they split it up even more, probably to milk money and buy more time, for something I want to talk about now.

First off: Paradox had a hard time recently and gained a lot of criticism for how they handle new games and especially updates / DLC's. Europa Universalis V is a great example for how the company could be changing their strategy. This successor has not been officially announced, yet it is no secret that this game is being developed and already has been ready for release for some time now. The developers don't want to release EU5, until it reaches a standard that the Paradox Interactive community has probably never seen before, while taking and implementing community feedback beforehand.

Personally, I don't know how much control is being leveraged on a game department within Paradox Interactive and how autonomous they act, like Paradox Tinto (Europa Universalis) compared to the Hearts of Iron team, and weither they have to share their development and release strategy. Therefore, the way EU5 is developed and will be released can differ from other parts within Paradox Interactive, also due to permanent events and changes over time.

Anyway, I guess after the next Chapter, at worst after two Chapters, we will see Hearts of Iron V. It's pretty much very possible. I have been part of this community since the game released and already played HOI3. HOI4 released almost 10 years ago, which seems insane in my mind (how the time flies). I'm pretty sure, if HOI5 is not being developed yet, then they will probably assign a huge junk of the team to set everything up for development starting now or at the start of next year, which could explain the huge gaps for a single flavour DLC. But don't get me wrong, HOI5 will probabably take a few years and we could see an announcement as early as 2026, with a release in 2027 or early 2028.

Feel free to share your thoughts and predictions, maybe also wishes for a possible successor. Personally, I hope the devs will find a better, more flexible and also faster to implement alternative to the concept of focus trees.

It's quite possible one of the future DLCs will introduce the Cold War to the game. Did you stop to take a look at some of the special projects? Previously, we had events for the Yalta Conference, we also had the Treaty of Brussels.

I think there are some future plans to add some elements of the Cold War into the game, but there are some challenges which might prevent this from being a feature. The game lags a lot even on good computers; the game ends in 1948; the game obviously lacks dynamic reaction to what happens in the game world with many of the focus trees not made to handle newer trees (See 1); and with the focus on unconditional surrender, prevents the game from showcasing the Cold War in a more realistic manner.

Earlier I mentioned the old focus trees are awful. Well, I played Russia to grind for the achievement where you must research thermonuclear warheads. Spain went hog wild on Soviet aid despite being nonaligned and as it turns out, the game did not consider this to be a possibility.

But if Paradox releases a DLC to fix the US or even a free update, this would be the one to really fix peace deals and add the Cold War.

[SalzStange]

Originally posted by GigaaChad:

My prediction:

Completely broken base game for 40€
Actual game released in sniplets until its finished: 500€+

Thats where we are at now. Hope you're happy.

Simply buy Hearts of Iron: Darkest Hour—some of the DLC content is included for free.
(Just to note: no focus trees, but there are dozens of events—tens of thousands, in fact.) Be careful, though: there’s way more micromanagement involved.

That said, I like HoI4, and I believe it saved the Hearts of Iron series.
I’ve been playing since HoI1, and the series has always been niche. After the success of HoI2, Doomsday, Armageddon, Anthology, Arsenal of Democracy, and Collector's Edition, HoI3 was a massive failure. Darkest Hour wasn’t able to fix the huge damage to the series' reputation, as HoI3 was nearly unplayable for the first 1–2 years after release. Around a year post-launch, many of the major issues were resolved, but the game never recovered. It was HoI4 that ultimately rescued the series.

While my pocket and I personally prefer a DLC model like Sega, Bandai Namco, Hooded Horse’s, and others, I love HoI4, and I’m genuinely happy it managed to save the franchise.

On a related note, Paradox has faced some challenges recently. Their publishing strategy didn’t perform well, and their side projects struggled. They’ve even stated that games like HoI4 helped keep the company afloat and that they plan to focus more on their "core business" moving forward.

As for their DLC policy—sure, it’s not the most customer-friendly, but it’s also far from the worst. Don’t get me wrong: it could definitely be better. However, I think some people overlook the importance of these DLCs. They don’t just benefit investors—they help players too. DLCs serve as a kind of safety net for Paradox, allowing them to grow steadily and providing financial stability if the company hits tough times.