Hallo Victorians, and a happy Tuesday!
While people are slowly coming back into the office from their summer breaks, we are diving right back into action with some exciting news. Today we announce the release date of Expansion Pass 2’s first Immersion Pack, National Awakening, which will come alongside the free 1.10 Update.
As the name suggests, National Awakening will lead you through the rise of new nations. With a focus on the Austrian Empire and the Balkan region, you will get to experience both the struggle of the old empires to remain intact, and the ambitions of their nationalist competitors. Will you maintain control over your empire, or will you choose to fight for the independence of your nation? Will your people be subjects, or will they be citizens?
Within National Awakening, you will navigate a tumultuous time in the Austrian Empire, deciding the fate of Hungary and the structure of the Empire as a whole.
In the Balkan region, you will face the struggle for independence and national unification, placing your nation in conflict with the traditional empires that dominate the region. New states forming out of the ashes of empires will create a dynamic environment for events to unfold in the minor countries like Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro, and provide opportunities to realize the ambition of a unified South Slavic state.
This new content, along with improvements to the mechanics of nationalism, should make any new playthrough in the region a lot more engaging.
See this infographic for a handy summary of National Awakening’s contents (click to get the full view):
National Awakening and the accompanying free 1.10 Update will be released on the 23rd of September and is included in Expansion Pass 2. If you wish to buy it on its own, it’s going to cost €9,99. Check out the Steam store page for screenshots and wishlist it there!
As we usually do, we will dive deeper into all the content of the Immersion Pack with Dev Diaries in the coming weeks, starting with the changes coming in the free 1.10 Update.
We are kicking off this phase next week already, when Narrative Design Lead Victoria will guide us through some coming changes that touch upon the central themes of National Awakening: Cultural Fervour and our rework to Culture and Religion traits. Be sure to check back in for that!
I also want to mention that we have one final patch planned for the 1.9 Update. Currently planned to release next week, 1.9.8 will bring a slew of bugfixes and smaller quality of life improvements.
Until then, enjoy your rare happy Tuesday!