If you want to jump into an older Paradox game today, you're staring at a wall of expansions. My take: the problem isn't that there's so much DLC, it's that it gradually reshapes the base game until newcomers can no longer find a clear, affordable way in. The DLC flood at Paradox and co. has crossed a line.

I love grand strategy. I've lost nights to Europa Universalis IV and built empires in Stellaris. That's exactly why it bugs me how hard it's become to recommend these games to friends. The first question is never "Is it fun?" but "Which DLC do I need?" So I went through the numbers, all pulled straight from the Steam store (as of November 3, 2026, German Steam store, prices in euros).

The numbers: how big the Paradox DLC flood really is

For each game, I counted how many add-ons Steam lists for the base game and added up the regular, non-discounted prices of every DLC currently sold on its own. Those lists also include soundtracks, cosmetic packs and smaller extras, but they're part of the storefront all the same.

• Europa Universalis IV (Steam): base game €49.99, 33 add-ons, 29 of them sold individually for a combined €375.21
• Stellaris (Steam): base game €49.99, 32 add-ons, 25 of them sold individually for a combined €400.75
• Crusader Kings III (Steam): base game €49.99, 33 add-ons, 27 of them sold individually for a combined €428.73
• Hearts of Iron IV (Steam): base game €49.99, 24 add-ons, 24 of them sold individually for a combined €274.76
• Cities: Skylines (Steam): base game €27.99, 79 add-ons, 73 of them sold individually for a combined €479.28
• The Sims 4 (Steam): base game free, 115 add-ons, 115 of them sold individually for a combined €1,610.85

Of course nobody pays those totals in one go; Steam sales and bundles can bring the price down a lot. But they show the scale. Cities: Skylines costs €27.99 for the base game, while its individually sold add-ons total €479.28. That's more than 17 times as much.

Europa Universalis IV and Stellaris: when DLC rebuilds the base game

Europa Universalis IV launched on August 13, 2013, according to Steam, and Stellaris on May 9, 2016. Both have been in active development for close to a decade or longer, and that's a good thing in itself. Few publishers support their games for this long.

The catch: Paradox ties free patches and paid DLC tightly together. Each expansion usually ships alongside a free update that reworks systems in the base game, but the mechanics that really make the new system sing are locked behind the DLC. So over the years, the base game doesn't feel more complete to me. It feels more like scaffolding with the best pieces missing.

Crusader Kings III and Hearts of Iron IV: the barrier keeps rising

Crusader Kings III hit Steam on September 1, 2020, and its combined DLC price has already overtaken Europa Universalis IV. Hearts of Iron IV (released June 6, 2016, per Steam) has a particular catch: many country packs add their own focus trees. If you want to play a specific nation with all its content, you often have to buy that exact DLC.

Veterans shrug this off; they buy piece by piece, usually on sale. For newcomers it's a real barrier. I've yet to see a friend who didn't have to dig through Reddit threads and buying guides before purchasing just to figure out what actually matters. That's a question the store itself should answer.

Cities: Skylines and The Sims 4: the extreme cases

The record holder on my list is Cities: Skylines with 79 add-ons. A lot of those are radio stations and small Content Creator Packs, so they're optional. Still, the number shows how far the model has run away with itself. For the sequel, Cities: Skylines II, Steam already lists 30 add-ons, just over three years after launch.

Outside Paradox, The Sims 4 is the textbook example. The base game is free on Steam, while the 115 add-ons listed there cost a combined €1,610.85 if bought individually. Honestly, I think the free entry point is fair. But if you want the game to look like it does in the ads, you end up paying many times the price of a full-priced game. I've written more about the industry's DLC habits in general in this opinion piece.

It doesn't have to be this way: Factorio, Frostpunk and co.

Other strategy and city-building games show it can be leaner. According to Steam, Factorio has just 3 add-ons, including the big Space Age expansion. Frostpunk from 11 bit studios has 7 entries on Steam. In both cases I know right away what I'm buying: a few big expansions instead of dozens of bite-sized packs.

I get that Paradox runs a different business. Games that live for ten years and keep getting updates have to be paid for somehow. Fair enough. But between "a few big expansions" and "more than 30 entries" there's a lot of room that could be used better.

What Paradox and co. should do better

• Clear starter bundles: an official, regularly updated bundle with the DLC that actually matters, at a fair price.
• Store transparency: label which DLC adds mechanics and which is just cosmetics or music.
• Fold older DLC into the base game: after a few years, make core systems free.
• Fewer, bigger expansions: one strong expansion beats five small packs.

My verdict: it's too much when the way in isn't clear anymore

How much is too much? For me, the line isn't a specific number of DLC or euros. It's too much when I can't tell a friend in one sentence what to buy to get a complete game. With Europa Universalis IV, Stellaris, Crusader Kings III and Hearts of Iron IV, we passed that point a long time ago.

I'll keep playing them anyway, because nothing else plays quite like them. But I want Paradox and co. to open a clear door for newcomers again instead of leaving them in front of a wall of store tiles. What about you: do you buy DLC piece by piece, or does the flood put you off?