Europa Universalis 4 demo out now, mod support and cross-play promised

Paradox has released a taster version of grand strategy Europe Universalis 4, giving hopeful conquerers a tiny slice of the content in the full game.

The demo, available now on Steam, lets you choose from one of four territories, and control it for up to 28 years. It's single-player only, and there's no saving and loading, so you're stuck with your decisions.

Depending on your interests, choose Venice to focus on trade; the Ottoman Empire to focus on warfare; Portugal to focus on colonisation; or Austria to focus on diplomacy. There's a full tutorial and hint system to help you out.

It's only a fraction of the content in the full game, which spans centuries and includes hundreds of territories; over 250 historical countries, provinces and city-states are available.

Paradox also announced that the full game will fully support modding through Steam Workshop.

Additionally, Europa Universalis 4 will have cross-platform multiplayer on Linux, Mac and PC for up to 32 players, but the demo is only available on PC, and in English.

Europa Universalis 4 releases on August 13.