In the new installment of the franchise, the importance of religion in the fate of the state will increase.
The authors of the global strategy Europa Universalis 5 have presented a new development diary. This time they propose to consider the mechanics related to religion and culture.
The game features about three hundred religions, which provides "the most accurate picture of religious diversity of all games in the series." Most religions are present at the start date, and some may appear over time.
Each religion in EU5 will have its own bonuses, restrictions, interactions, and customization available to the player.
Districts in EU5 are not represented by one religion:
«The population of the district professes different religions and lives according to their precepts. This creates a more dynamic and realistic representation of religion. For example, a huge Mediterranean city may be inhabited by Jews, Orthodox, Lutherans, Sunnis and Catholics living side by side. Instead of a monolithic faith, cities will become a motley concentration of different beliefs, reflecting the pluralism of the New Age».
When working on culture, the developers strived to simulate the world as accurately as possible, which led to a high level of detail in cultures:
«In the world of EU5, cultures are represented on an unprecedented scale and number more than two thousand. Each culture can belong to a cultural group, reflecting a common heritage or historical ties between different cultures. They give a bonus to the opinion between cultures and reduce the cost of adopting cultures from the same group in terms of the limit of cultures. The nuance is that a culture can belong to several cultural groups at once. And vice versa, some cultures are not included in any cultural group».
Each power in the game has a main culture, representing the dominant culture of the power. However, very few powers in EU5 are monocultural, most are inhabited by many cultural minorities present in each district:
«Each of these groups may have aspirations different from the main culture, and, depending on the tolerance and contentment of the population groups, may rebel. Also, depending on the level of tolerance, the population of another culture will be limited in the right to join the army and will reduce the level of integration of districts, since the transition from integration to a national district requires that most of the population belongs to the main or accepted culture»/
Europa Universalis 5 is expected to be released on November 4, 2025.
