While I DO like the game itself so far, I DO NOT like the requirement to run an independent launcher + require extra Paradox services. I buy games on Steam because I can trust them for a cohesive and friction-free experience, having 3rd party terms and accounts is not something that should be encouraged for games on Steam. Additionally, the *external* terms include an unreasonable clause of "we can update these terms whenever without your consent or notification", which is never a good thing. It is a shame that Paradox is the only problem with this game, since the game itself has been so far enjoyable.

For Linux users: use Proton 8, Proton 9 causes crashes when attempting to use multiplayer functionality.

The dedicated server runs alright in plain old wine.

Update #1 (May 10):
The comments on this review are an interesting read if you want to hear both sides to the argument, I personally like the game *enough* that I am still playing it (so long as the terms of service don't get worse) but I just can't recommend it, because companies should not be allowed to change our legal rights without notifying us.

There's an active group on the game's discord that is doing work to port the dedicated server into a docker container and plenty of people discussing linux support there as well. The devs *do* acknowledge proton and linux users so I'm not super worried about something like anti-cheat being added in later on that would break it.

While I DO like the game itself so far, I DO NOT like the requirement to run an independent launcher + require extra Paradox services. I buy games on Steam because I can trust them for a cohesive and friction-free experience, having 3rd party terms and accounts is not something that should be encouraged for games on Steam. Additionally, the *external* terms include an unreasonable clause of "we can update these terms whenever without your consent or notification", which is never a good thing. It is a shame that Paradox is the only problem with this game, since the game itself has been so far enjoyable. For Linux users: use Proton 8, Proton 9 causes crashes when attempting to use multiplayer functionality. The dedicated server runs alright in plain old wine. Update #1 (May 10): The comments on this review are an interesting read if you want to hear both sides to the argument, I personally like the game *enough* that I am still playing it (so long as the terms of service don't get worse) but I just can't recommend it, because companies should not be allowed to change our legal rights without notifying us. There's an active group on the game's discord that is doing work to port the dedicated server into a docker container and plenty of people discussing linux support there as well. The devs *do* acknowledge proton and linux users so I'm not super worried about something like anti-cheat being added in later on that would break it.