Last night, Paradox took to a Gamescom stage to talk about their existing and future titles. During the conference, they announced Europa Universalis 4's third expansion, and Crusader Kings 2's, I dunno, sixty-ninth expansion? Something like that, anyway. EU4: Art of War will focus on the 30 Years War, and improve naval combat and army control. CK2: Charlemagne will introduce a new 769AD start date, and chart the rise of Charlemagne and The Holy Roman Empire.

Here's the trailer for Charlemagne:

And the seventh expansion's feature list:



New Earlier bookmark, 769, almost 100 more years of Crusader Kings II

Special story event series for Charlemagne

Annual Chronicle in the style of the Saxon chronicle

Custom Kingdoms and Empires, create a new title from a lower-tier title, can customize flag and name

Dozens of new cultures

Brand new system for climate and seasonal transitions

Regency overhaul

And now for Art of War:

Features? Yup:



30 years War: Unique mechanics and events for the religious conflict that ravaged Europe.

Napoleonic Era: Fight for or against the revolution and create entirely new custom client countries on the map from your conquests.

Fighting on land or at sea: You can now sortie from sieges, transfer occupation to allies and give objectives to your subjects and allies. Entire Fleets can now be upgraded with one click, you can now mothball fleets to avoid paying maintenance, and your fleets can be set to automatically transport armies.

Marches: Turn your vessals into bulwarks against your enemies, getting less tax but strengthening their defences.

Improved Diplomacy: Sell Surplus Ships, Fight for your subjects CB, Declare War in Support of Rebel factions in other countries and new peace options.

Gameplay Enhancements: Build entire armies in one click and abandon cores that you no longer wish to support.

Free Features for the accompanying patch: Completely new rebel mechanic, local autonomy on province level, new cardinal system for Catholics, new reformation mechanics and a new look map.

At this point, you're probably all, "so when will this stuff be released?" The answer, uninformatively, is "the near future".