Hearts of Iron III View on Steam

We Love It's Guide to…

Hearts of Iron III

Choose a nation and scenario, then guide it through a World War II-era campaign spanning 1936 to 1948. You can follow historical events or pursue alternate outcomes while steering your country's political and diplomatic course. Prepare for war by directing industry, researching technology, building forces, and managing diplomacy and intelligence. Once fighting begins, command land, air, and naval operations across a detailed map, with fronts unfolding in real time and the option to pause. Organize divisions from different brigade types and arrange forces into theatre-level command structures. Mobilization, reserves, infrastructure, supply, and information about enemy forces all shape how well your campaigns can be planned and sustained.

Lead any of more than 150 nations through WWII, balancing diplomacy, industry, research, and command of land, air, and naval forces.

Released 07 Aug 2009

76%positive of
6.1k player reviews

$9.99

View on Steam

Strategy

War

RTS

Build Brigade Divisions

Manage War Supplies

Organize Army Theatres

Hearts of Iron III lets you play the most engaging conflict in world history, World War 2, on all fronts as any country and through multiple different scenarios. Guide your nation to glory between 1936 and 1948 and wage war, conduct diplomacy and build your industry in the most detailed World War 2 game ever made.

Developed by Paradox Development Studio · Published by Paradox Interactive

Players Praise Most

Interlocking Strategy Systems
Hands-On Unit Command
Army Organization Depth
Detailed WWII Simulation

Common Player Critiques

Publisher Moderation Dispute
Launch And Crash Problems
Steep Learning Curve
Heavy Army Micromanagement

76%

positive of 6.1k player reviews

77/100

Metacritic

From the Devs

Play as any nation from 1936 to 1948, more than 150 countries to choose from.
Control the oceans with aircraft carriers, submarines and battleships and use your air force to defend your skies, support your naval and ground forces, and to bomb your enemies
Thousands of historically accurate real-world military commanders and politicians.
Realistic military command AI with unprecedented levels of interaction
In-depth diplomatic and political system.
Historical accuracy combined with an unparalleled level of freedom of choice
More than 10,000 land provinces makes the game five times more detailed than HoI2 and the most detailed depiction of World War 2 ever made.
Customize your divisions in detail with more than 20 types of brigades
New economic system makes it possible to buy weapons from abroad.
Mobilization and reserves gives the option of surprise attacks, Blitzkrieg made real.
Government-in-exile makes it possible to continue to struggle from abroad with underground movements and uprisings against the oppressing power.
Strategic warfare system makes it more important to defend the skies and oceans against foreign attacks; leaving cities open to enemy bombing will now be devastating.
A completely new intelligence system, with several types of intelligence sources, makes it possible to get information about enemy reserves and troop movements.
Assign troops to "theatres" on the map to fight two-front wars more successfully.
The new AI system and more detailed map will allow for more strategic decisions.
Flexible technology system with hundreds of categories, where major powers get their own unique attributes.

Back of the Box

Platforms	Windows, macOS
Age ratings	ESRB E10+ — Mild Violence PEGI 7 ClassInd (Brazil) 10 — Violência IGRS (Indonesia) 13 — Kekerasan Interaksi Daring Steam (Germany) 12 — Gewalt
Play modes	Online co-op Online PvP Co-op campaign
Other modes	Online multiplayer with friends Online multiplayer with random players Alliance-based cooperative play within the main campaign/scenarios Competitive multiplayer controlling different countries in the same grand strategy campaign
Multiplayer	The store page lists Single-player and Co-op, and the tags include Multiplayer. Reviews consistently confirm online multiplayer with friends and other players. The exact player count is not stated in the provided text. Multiplayer is described as functional but can involve stability issues, re-hosts, checksum checks, and low player population.
Multiplayer & mods	The game is tagged Moddable, and reviews mention many mods. Reviews also mention multiplayer checksum checks and setup friction, which implies mods can affect multiplayer compatibility, but no explicit multiplayer mod support details are stated.
Controller required	No
DLC / extras	18 listed on Steam
DRM / EULA	Requires agreement to a 3rd-party EULA Hearts of Iron III EULA
Content notices	Mild Violence Online interactivity Age rating for: ESRB
Metacritic	77/100 View on Metacritic
Website	Official website