'Hearts of Iron IV' DLC news: Game's 'Together For Victory' expansion now live

"Hearts of Iron IV" has just received its first major update, and it focuses on giving the Commonwealth nations a greater depth of autonomy compared to the original game.

Titled "Together For Victory," the war strategy video game's latest update centers on the British Dominions and the Commonwealth during and after WWII. The expansion makes the smaller nations worth playing by introducing several new features for five major dominions of the British Empire during the early 20th century: New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, India, and Australia. These countries now have their own National Focus Tree that boosts their capabilities by prioritizing on a single aspect of their military, specially designed for the histories of each nation. This is a huge leap for the "Hearts of Iron" franchise because it traditionally makes the major countries the primary players in the war.

In addition, the DLC goes even deeper into alternate histories by giving players the freedom to choose what direction each nation will take. For instance, the player can make Canada become fascist or South Africa turn into a communist nation and see how that could have changed the course of world history. The new autonomy system has been added to give select countries degrees of independence under a foreign leader. Commonwealth states also have the opportunity to share technology to support the British war effort.

For those who have yet to try the "Together for Victory" update, Paradox Interactive has launched a smaller update titled "Torch." Aside from a bunch of UI fixes, this expansion adds an achievement viewer, music player, and new notifications. Smaller nations like Pakistan, Botswana, Kenya, ambique, British Malaya, and Congo have been added to the lineup as well.

Developed by Paradox, "Hearts of Iron IV" is available exclusively for PC. The game's latest update "Together for Victory" can now be purchased on Steam for $14.99.