New Victoria 3 update could totally change how you play the grand strategy game

Originally released back in 2022, it's been a slightly rocky road for Victoria 3. Compared to its uniformly beloved predecessor, the latest in Paradox's trade-and-diplomacy-driven grand strategy series has generated mixed sentiments from players so far - but a quiet comeback seems to be underway. The latest expansion pass has picked up some deserved plaudits, alongside the Sphere of Influence and Colossus of the South DLC packs. Now, with spiritual rival Civilization 7 facing its own struggles, and close cousin Europa Universalis 5 on the way, the new Victoria 3 update, 1.9, could be a game changer. One of its most significant features seems to have sneaked under the radar.

In a series of developer diaries, Paradox has already outlined the changes that the next Victoria 3 update will introduce to military upgrades and warfare in general. The release date for 1.9 is Tuesday June 17; new commander orders like blockading and a revision of the strategic objectives mechanic will also form part of the grand strategy game's new version. But there's another extra feature, perhaps slightly overshadowed so far by some of the more immediate changes, that could transform how you experience Victoria 3.

Paradox is adding the ability to use custom seeds for random number generation (RNG). Generally in videogames, a custom seed is something that you input at the beginning of a playthrough in order to guarantee certain outcomes, events, and other in-game elements. In Minecraft, for example, rather than leaving it to the chance of RNG, you might use a seed in order to generate a map with a large quantity of diamonds - every time you use that seed, those resources will spawn in the same number and same locations. A seed system in Project Zomboid might always ensure that certain parts of the game world are always populated by enemies, or that specific buildings always contain particular items.

Victoria 3 is a strategy game of infinite variables and possibilities. However, with the launch of 1.9, it seems that at least some of these may be under your control, if you choose. "When activated, [the custom RNG seed system] allows you to set a custom seed that the random rolls in your game will be based on," Paradox says, adding that the feature "should be particularly useful for the modders among you or if you simply didn't like the ideology your Japanese landowners IG leader spawned with."

Although it's unclear precisely which variables it will be possible to direct with seeds, Paradox shares a screenshot of the RNG menu system: "Allows setting a specific RNG seed so most random outcomes follow that seed," it says. "As a result, initialization and observer games without player interaction will give the same results across multiple playthroughs using the same seed."

Based on that description, it would seem that seeds can be used to reliably reproduce certain starting conditions for new playthroughs, and also to 'script' observer games where the player does not have any interactions. If that's true, rather than every single random event in a Victoria 3 playthrough being governed by the seed, players will only be able to guarantee leaders, resources, and other allocatables at the very beginning, and from there, any interactions will impact RNG as normal.

It nevertheless presents an intriguing possibility. Perhaps it would be possible to create a seed for an observer game that 100% mimics actual, historical events. It may also allow players to build and share custom scenarios, where the starting conditions are stacked heavily against you, and you need to strategize a survival plan. We'll have to see when Victoria 3 update 1.9 finally goes live.

In the meantime, you might want to try some of the best 4X games, or maybe something a little brisker with the best RTS games available now.

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