Across the Pillars
Europa Universalis V: Across the Pillars is arriving October 28th, 2026.
Shape the future of Iberia and North Africa as Castile, Morocco and Granada compete for dominion across the region. Contest the Straits of Gibraltar, embark on unique Expeditions, navigate the future of the Iberian Union, and lead your nation into a new era of power and exploration.
Features of Europa Universalis V: Across the Pillars include:
The Battle of the Strait: A new historical situation focused on the conflict between Castile, Marinid Morocco and Granada over the remnants of Muslim rule in Iberia.
New decisions, cabinet actions and country interactions themed around this contest
New events and special actions related to the struggle over the Straits of Gibraltar
The winner of the Battle of the Strait proceeds to the Golden Century situation, allowing the victor to continue to project power beyond the region.
More historical flavor
Unique Expeditions: Special Expedition content available only in Across the Pillars, including unique explorations, gold caravans, and treasure fleets.
Religious Orders: New unique military orders for Iberian nations.
Iberian Union: Choose the path of a centralized Iberian monarchy or a federalized Iberian state in a reworked Iberian Wedding scenario. Unite the thrones of the peninsula through new laws and policies.
Iberian Bureaucracies: 12 new bureaucracy options drawn from Spanish and Portuguese history.
Maghrebi Bureaucracies: 8 new bureaucracy options drawn from North African history.
New Iberian Historical Events: Many new historical events for the region, including general Iberian content as well as unique dynamic events for Castile/Spain, Portugal, Aragon, and Navarre.
New Maghrebi Historical Events: Many new historical events for the region, including general Maghrebi content as well as unique dynamic events for Morocco, Granada and other nations in the region.
New Technological Advances: Dozens of new advances to research, unique to Iberian or Maghrebi nations.
New Jewish Flavor including new events.
New Cosmetic Flavor: New unit and ship models, portrait assets, event illustrations, monuments and Works of Art are available for Iberian and Maghrebi nations.
New music: 6 new Castilian themed songs, played on baroque instruments and sung in medieval Spanish plus 3 new Moroccan themed songs inspired by 16th century call-and-response songs, played on the guembri and qraqeb.
Wishlist now:
https://pdxint.at/AcrossThePillarsEUV
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1.4 Open Beta Out Now
Across the pillars isn't alone of course. Update 1.4, Rio Salado will be coming alongside it! Participation will help us identify and fix both bugs and balancing throughout the process finally leading up to the October 28th Release Date.
1.4 Open Beta Checksum: 592b
Reminder, this beta is for update 1.4, it does not add anything included in the upcoming Across the Pillars Chronicle Pack
How to join the 1.4 Open Beta:
Open Steam
Right Click Europa Universalis V in your library
Click Properties > Game Versions and Betas
Select EU5 Version 1.4
Launch EU5!
Give us your feedback on the beta via the link here!
What's new in Update 1.4:
New Content & Flavor (Iberia & Maghreb)
315 new Advances go to Iberian and Maghrebi tags and cultures. Both regions got new flavor including: new events, decisions, and unique buildings for Aragon, Castile, Granada, Navarre, Mallorca, Tunis, Tlemcen, and more. New holy sites and monuments have also been added, alongside a full Jewish and Sephardi flavor with their own characters, dynasties, and government reforms.
Expeditions
A new system lets you send a leader and gold on a voyage across the map, from transatlantic exploration to grand diplomatic tours and religious pilgrimages. Some expeditions follow a fixed historical route, others chart their own path, and a few are global races where only the first nation to succeed gets the reward.
Religion
Cardinals are now full characters with their own subpanel and map mode inside the Catholic Church. Crusades and Jihads get a two-phase structure, a preparation period followed by the war itself, along with new leadership roles, a shared war chest, and dozens of new actions and events. Religious Orders also arrive with their own callings and crown actions.
Economy
Tariffs let you tax or subsidize foreign trade to balance revenue against diplomatic standing, and Trade Orders become far more customizable. Canals open new naval passages for a steep gold cost, with full control over who's allowed to use them. A new Default on Creditors action and an area-based Promote Industry system round out the economic toolkit.
Politics & Diplomacy
Inheritance Contracts and Betrothals add new ways to secure a dynasty's future, while a new Political Influence resource reflects how much authority a ruler actually commands. Republics and Theocracies each get their own new crisis events. An Oligarchic Capture disaster for decaying republics and a Crisis of Faith for theocracies in decline.
Military
War leadership is no longer automatically handed to the strongest country, instead it can now be offered or demanded. Estates with the appropriate privilege can field their own private armies, and rulers can press them into royal service at a cost. Cavalry and infantry balance has also been adjusted so that building nothing but cavalry is no longer the META (we think), encouraging more combined-arms play.
Exploration & Colonization Quality of Life
Colonial Charters can now be aimed at forming a new Colonial Nation, expanding an existing one, or integrating territory directly. New migration tools let you deliberately resettle pops after a conquest or into underdeveloped land, and colonization UI gets clearer health indicators and milestone messages throughout the process.
Quality of Life & Tools
The Laws panel, Road Builder, and Peace Treaty screens all got UX passes, alongside new Budget and Building Queue management tools. Save file sizes have been observed to be much smaller. The Mod Manager also receives a round of improvements.
A full feature list can be found here:
https://pdxint.at/RioSaladoBeta