'We have heard for years from existing and potential new players that the cost of getting the game and all expansions all at once is quite expensive (and might be discouraging for completely new EU4 fans), it's been supported for almost 7 years after all,' Paradox explained.
At first they only hinted vaguely about experiments, then opened up after players digging into files found details on it.
Paradox this week confirmed that they're experimenting with a subscription service for Europa Universalis IV on a small number of players. I'm very interested, then, to see Paradox are experimenting with an EU4 subscription service that would cover the strategy game and it expansions. Consider Europa Universalis IV, which after sevens years has almost £200 of expansions. I quite like this when I buy a Paradox game near the start of its long life, and happily buy an expansion or two a year, but the sheer mass and price of extras for later games can be intimidating. Paradox Interactive, the publishers of games from Crusader Kings to Cities: Skylines, have settled into a familiar and successful model: release a game then, rather chase it with a sequel, spend years expanding it with free content updates and paid add-ons.