With its reputation finally repaired, grand strategy game Victoria 3 is making "a definitive return to the main quest"

It's been a good year for Victoria 3. The 19th-Century grand strategy game struggled hard to match up to its beloved predecessor at launch, but it's been walking a long road to redemption. The past few months in particular have been big winners; following the success of its big Sphere of Influence expansion and Charters of Commerce DLC, the most recent drop has likewise landed to a warm reception. Both Victoria 3 update 1.12 and the Iberian Twilight immersion pack are doing very well for themselves, and recent Steam reviews sit at 88% positive, helping pull its overall rating out of the dreaded 'mixed' range. Now, developer Paradox says it's ready to "return to the main quest" as we move into 2026.

The Victoria 3 team hasn't been resting on its laurels; the latest dev diary comes alongside a fairly substantial 1.12.2 hotfix that packs in a pretty hefty list of changes and improvements. Personally, I'm particularly taken with the phrasing, "Increased the culling of agitators in the exile pool," but it's also a very welcome change to stop hundreds of them from stacking up and not being used. Enemy AI behavior has been given a spit-shine to ensure it doesn't miss goods shortages, attempt to incorporate states while at a bureaucracy deficit, or pull armies out of its own garrisons only to leave them lingering in the middle of nowhere. There's also a whole heap of balance tweaks in response to initial feedback.

As it looks back over 2025, Paradox says it's been an "autumn and winter of side quests." Following the substantial 1.9 update that landed alongside Charters of Commerce, it put its attention on polish, bug fixing, and background prep. "Just like when you're playing an RPG, you've finished a chunk of the main quest, and you head back to your home base and restock, recuperate, and plan for what's next," it writes.

"But then you see that exclamation mark over someone's head, you think to yourself, 'Just one little side quest,' and… yeah, you know how that goes." These 'side quests' were the upgrades to culture and discrimination alongside the National Awakening pack, and then negotiations and amendments with Iberian Twilight. "We also picked up some other minor side quests along the way, such as the changes to elections. Oh, and all the modding upgrades and global journal entries, and…"

All of this, it says, is to explain "why we haven't approached other areas in the 'what's next' diary [published in July] and why we aren't updating it this time. We simply would not be able to check anything off, and our goals remain the same." Honestly, I can't say I mind that too much, given that almost everything we've seen in the interim has been equally beneficial to the health of Victoria 3. As someone prone to being distracted from one task by another, I can fully sympathize.

With that said, Paradox promises, "The next major update (1.13) will be different, and will mark a definitive return to the main quest." The team has been playing things slightly coy with teasers, but it confirms, "as you might have surmised from the abundance of loud foghorns over the last few months, next year will see some major updates to the naval side of the game." Expect to hear more in early 2026 on exactly what that looks like.

Victoria 3 is 70% off in the Steam Winter Sale, so you can expect to pay just $14.99 / £12.59, with additional discounts available on much of its DLC. If you've been holding off, now might be the right time to finally see what's going on. You should have a fairly stable experience due to some downtime on hotfixes during the holiday break, although Paradox notes it has "key people around for opt-in beta hotfixes if the need arises from critical issues."