Hearts of Iron IV
- Developer
- Paradox Development Studio
- Publisher
- Paradox Interactive
- Released
- 06 June 2016
- Age rating
- PEGI 7
- UK price
- £41.99
Platforms: Linux, PC, macOS
Genres: real time strategy rts , simulator , strategy
Victory is at your fingertips! Your ability to lead your nation is your supreme weapon, the strategy game Hearts of Iron IV lets you take command of any nation in World War II; the most engaging conflict in world history. From the heart of the battlefield to the command center, you will guide your nation to glory and wage war, negotiate or invade. You hold the power to tip the very balance of WWII. It is time to show your ability as the greatest military leader in the world. Will you relive or change history? Will you change the fate of the world?
Best gaming PC for Hearts of Iron IV in 2026
Full buyers guide →Below are the four PC tiers we'd actually recommend for Hearts of Iron IV today. These are our 2026 hardware picks, not the dated publisher minimums you'll find on Steam.
Budget
£7991080p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Storage
- 1TB NVMe SSD
Mid-tier
£1,2991440p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
High-end
£1,7991440p · 144fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
Enthusiast
£3,4994K · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
- RAM
- 64 GB
- Storage
- 4TB NVMe SSD
Official system requirements
These are the minimum and recommended specs as published by Paradox Interactive on Steam. They tend to be conservative — usually "what ran the game at 1080p when it shipped". For what you should actually buy in 2026, see the tier cards above.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit | Windows® 10 Home 64 bit |
| CPU | Intel® Core™ i5 750 | AMD® FX 4300 | Intel® Core™ i5 2500K | AMD® Ryzen 3 2200G |
| RAM | 4 GB | 6 GB |
| GPU | Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 470 (1.28GB) | AMD® HD 5850 (1GB) | Intel Iris Xe G7 (Tiger Lake) | AMD® Radeon™ RX Vega 11 | Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 570 (1.28GB) | AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970 (3GB) | Intel Iris Xe G7 (Tiger Lake) |
| Storage | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| DirectX | 9.0 | 9.0 |
Verified 18 May 2026 against the Steam store page.
Can your PC run Hearts of Iron IV?
If your CPU is roughly equivalent to Intel® Core™ i5 2500K | AMD® Ryzen 3 2200G and your GPU is at or above Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 570 (1.28GB) | AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970 (3GB) | Intel Iris Xe G7 (Tiger Lake), you'll hit recommended settings at 1080p/60. For 1440p or higher, see the tier picks above.