It's been over a month since the release of Europa Universalis IV, and we can safely say that this is Paradox Development Studios’s most successful release to date. And we really want to say thank you.Without all you gamers out there, we could not have managed to make our vision come to life. So we really want to say that it means the world to us that you have helped and supported us throughout the years, helped us test the games, given us feedback and ideas and most of all enjoyed our games and spread the word to friends and allies. We now have a Metacritic score of 86% (and a user score of 8.9, thanks guys and gals We also have twice the concurrent users of any of our games from Paradox Development Studio and this has been our best-selling first month for any of our games ever.This project was started with a vision. We were convinced that Europa Universalis III with its expansions was the best strategy game out there. But we also realized that it was a bit messy with all the patches and expansions stacked on top of each other and it was hard to access all the features. We kept thinking – what if we could just keep the truly good stuff that we love, throw out the not-so fun stuff, make sure all the features worked together in a streamlined fashion (not just plugged in over several expansions) and use the leap forward in graphics and usability that Crusader Kings II represented? Then we would be home free. Then we would have the game of our dreams.Now, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. We all know that. First we decided that the old trade system should go. It’s been one of those things that has been discussed since Europa Universalis I, but it was such a big thing that we never wanted to touch it before. Here was one major thing that we could change.Then we started looking at the way income and research was distributed, the whole thing with both monthly and yearly income where monthly income gave you inflation if you decided to actually use it for money, and so on. Honestly, the whole system was a bit confusing. So, just monthly income, you have money in hand and then you get to distribute it. So how should you do research then? Then came the concept of monarch points, and all of a sudden the pieces started to fall into place. We were seeing how the attempt to turn the confusing Europa Universalis III economy system into something that made more sense mutated into a whole new concept of how you balance small decisions vs. big decisions, long term planning vs. short term gains, etc. When the dust settled, we had a game that, at its core feel, was still Europa Universalis but where we changed the most fundamental inner workings of the game.Under the hood, there have been other major leaps forward during the development of this game. Paradox Development Studio may still be a small studio creating grand games, but we have grown enough so that we are starting to have specialists on our team. The fact that we a bit into the project got a dedicated AI-programmer and an interface designer on board was really a great improvement and has helped immensely .The graphics work done for Crusader Kings II served as a starting point for really bringing Paradox Development Studio up to date with how a game should look in 2013. We swapped out the multiplayer structure and vastly improved the robustness of our scripting system.As you read this, we sure hope that you have already downloaded the first full post release patch for Europa Universalis IV v. 1.2, where we have both fixed some the most pressing concerns that you have brought to our attention, as well as added a bunch of improvements.Rest assure, we will not stop working on Europa Universalis IV, because there is still a long list of stuff that we want to improve or add. Every balance change also brings a new and vibrant debate on our forums and in other communities and we will definitely take this into account when we keep working on the game. I part due to the success of the game we still have a sizable team that continues to produce patches that includes new gameplay features and improvements as well as DLC features for as long as you still play and enjoy the game!So, thank you again to everyone that was a part in making this game a success: the team at Paradox Development Studio, the Paradox South team responsible for a lot of Art, the Paradox Interactive team, our volunteer researchers, our beta testers, our external partners and most of all you our fans! You really helped us level up with Crusader Kings II, helped us again to level up with Europa Universalis IV and you will be surprised when you see where the next level up will take usSince I'm home sick there will be neither programming nor management for me today, but I keep myself busy keeping the peace in the empire