Hearts of Iron IV ▶ Trailer
Hearts of Iron IV screenshot 1Hearts of Iron IV screenshot 2
SimulationStrategyWorld War IIGrand StrategyWarHistoricalMilitary

23,857 playing#44 on Steam by players#44 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 42,124

Peak in the last 7 days: 59,984

Hearts of Iron IV Steam store

Game description

Victory is at your fingertips! Your ability to lead your nation is your supreme weapon, the strategy game Hearts of Iron IV lets you take command of any nation in World War II; the most engaging conflict in world history.

Basic info

DeveloperParadox Development Studio
PublisherParadox Interactive
PlatformsWindows · macOS · Linux
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateJun 6, 2016
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows® 10 Home 64 Bit
ProcessorIntel® Core™ i5 750 | AMD® FX 4300
Memory4 GB
GraphicsNvidia® GeForce™ GTX 470 (1.28GB) | AMD® HD 5850 (1GB) | Intel Iris Xe G7 (Tiger Lake) |…
Storage2 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 358 reviews from the past 1 year

77.5/ 100
Bottom 50%

Steam rating: Very Positive (90%)

Metacritic: 83 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 11, 2026)

Its players love the depth of Hearts of Iron IV while resenting how much of it is sold separately; it holds 77.5 from 359,765 Steam reviews.

👍 Strengths

Content Volume ranks 41st of 1351, one of the highest marks we track. 153 reviews praise fun gameplay with extensive content and replay value, 35 describe strategy deep enough for thousands of hours, and 23 credit Workshop mods with making replays endless. Others report a thousand hours of play without running out of strategic depth, and a smaller group likes the historical setting.

👎 Where it falls short

Pricing & Fairness ranks 1296th of 1399, raised in 36% of analyzed reviews: 87 reviews say core systems are built around DLC and the base game feels stripped down. 81 find mechanics such as fleets confusing, with little help on how the systems work, and Gameplay ranks 1143rd of 1396. Others say one faction dominates regardless of player choices, or that the learning curve is too steep.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“fun gameplay with extensive content and replayability” · 153 reviews
“confusing fleet mechanics, unclear how to interact with systems” · 81 reviews
“1000 hours of engaging gameplay with strategic depth” · 15 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 54% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Onboarding -2.71 · How easy it is to learn — tutorials and the first hours
Negative “confusing fleet mechanics, unclear how to interact with systems” · 81 reviews

Progression 7% · Difficulty 7% · Freedom 7% · Strategy 21% · Controls & feel 2%

Plot, characters and the world

Not enough data — only 8% of reviews mention this.

World +2.64 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is

Story 2% · Characters 0%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 23% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +3.65 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “1000 hours of engaging gameplay with strategic depth” · 15 reviews
Negative “game is only for one evening” · 2 reviews

Variety 3% · Replayability 10%

Graphics, art style, music and sound

Not enough data — only 2% of reviews mention this.

Visuals +2.64 · Graphics, art style, and animation

Audio 1%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 9% of reviews mention this.

Playing together +1.19 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals

Community 5% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 36% of reviews · Bottom 10% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -0.97 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “core systems built around DLC, base game feels stripped-down and incomplete” · 87 reviews
Positive “DLC incorporated into base game for free, consumer-friendly practice” · 2 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 11% · Matchmaking 1%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 14% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support -0.28 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Negative “developers made poor DLC despite promising quality” · 8 reviews

Stability 4% · Performance 5%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

Was this analysis useful? Sign in with Steam to vote

🎲 What kind of gamer are you? Find your title in 3 minutes.