New Victoria 3 DLC sparks major comeback for struggling grand strategy game

Player numbers for Paradox's historical strategy sim Victoria 3 have been rocky since its 2022 release. But thanks to the release of the Charters of Commerce DLC earlier this month and a well-timed free-to-play weekend, Victoria 3 has made a major comeback, with its Steam player numbers almost tripling from May to June.

Since its release in October 2022, grand strategy game Victoria 3 has struggled to retain players. While its peak player count at launch was 70,100, May 2025's peak player count was a meager 9,782.

But the release of Victoria 3's latest DLC, Charters of Commerce, on Tuesday June 17, has sparked a huge comeback for Paradox's 4X game. As seen via SteamDB, Victoria 3's player count spiked to 15,153 on June 17, and continued to climb through the rest of the month, hitting a peak of 26,432 on Saturday, June 21, the highest we've seen since November 2023.

Released alongside the free update 1.9, the Charters of Commerce DLC adds more depth to the game's trade system, including new ways to regulate company expansion, diplomatic tools, and unique goods. Currently, Charters of Commerce boasts a 'very positive' rating, with players calling it the best Victoria 3 update yet and praising its revamped systems. But it's likely not solely the quality of this DLC that's pulled in more people.

To coincide with Charters of Commerce's release, Paradox Interactive ran a free play weekend from Thursday June 19, to Monday June 23, allowing prospective players to try out Victoria 3's base game and its new DLC for free for a limited time.

Running a limited free play period just days after a new DLC launch is a genius move by Paradox, and it seems to have paid off in a big way. While the numbers have dropped off a bit, at the time of writing, Victoria 3's peak player count has remained around 20-21K in the last few days. Let's hope it can keep up the momentum.

If you're looking for more great games like Victoria 3, check out our picks of the best 4X games and the best strategy games.

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