Victoria 3’s announcement ends a decade of grand strategy memeing

Victoria 3, a sequel so long-awaited by its fans the title has become a meme, is in development and coming soon. The grand strategy title was a keynote reveal of this weekend’s PDXCon, the annual gathering for all things Paradox Interactive.

Paradox’s Victoria series is a “society simulation” set in Great Britain during the time surrounding the industrial revolution. The most recent title was 2010’s Victoria 2 for PC. In the decade since, Victoria fans had beaten news or rumor of a sequel into a meme somewhat like the well-known Half-Life 3 meme.

This weekend, the meme died. A Paradox Interactive community manager took to the official forums this weekend to start a meme contest for the game, posting this picture of game director Martin Anward (which Anward himself tweeted out on Friday.)

Image: Martin Anward via Twitter

“Victoria 3 is instantly one of the most highly anticipated grand strategy games in Paradox’s history,” the company said in a statement, obliquely acknowledging its meme status. In the game, players take one of “dozens of nations,” not just the U.K., and lead it through a time of societal change, technological innovation, economic turmoil, and geopolitical rivalries.

Paradox’s news release did not say when Victoria 3 would launch, but did say it would be available for Windows PC via Steam, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and the Paradox Store.

As for the meme contest, I don’t know who won, but this was my personal favorite:

Image: Hemothep via Paradox Interactive forums