What people complain about and love in 2026
Shared report · refreshed weekly · updated Oct 29, 2026
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.
Simulation, Strategy · $49.99 · out since 2016 · from the Steam descriptionNew players of Hearts of Iron IV say difficulty comes from a long time to learn, overwhelming mechanics and a tutorial that does not teach the basics.
OneStar read 2,452 Steam reviews of Hearts of Iron IV posted from Oct 2025 to Oct 2026. Of the 2,452 people who reviewed Hearts of Iron IV in OneStar's sample, 60% complain and 38% praise it. The top complaints about Hearts of Iron IV are difficulty (22% of complaints); bans, scams and safety (11%); and price and value (11%). In OneStar's sample of Hearts of Iron IV reviews, 3% of reviewers say they're quitting. OneStar's report on Hearts of Iron IV was last updated on Oct 29, 2026.
What goes wrong
way too hard for people who have never played before. The tutorial sucks. you would have to have at least 40h or more to even get past your first war. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS GAME IT SUCKS
The moderation is absolutely terrible.
DLCs are too expensive, doesnt worth it, needs an update about modernization of the UI as well. in 2026, definitely dont spend a dime for this.
The core game dynamics are genuinely headache-inducing; between the erratic battle plans and clunky micro, you spend more energy fighting the interface and broken systems than fighting a war.
Terrible community management, useless customer support, and incompetent leadership driving the whole thing into the ground.
What goes well
I love this game so much. This game is so fun
Genuinely changed my life, I play it everyday and I spend hours microing, trying out new strategies and the logistic system is so hard to master but doing it makes you feel like a genius.
Buying this one game gives you access to SOOO MANY different scenarios and timelines, it's like buying 10 different games from the purchase of 1.
Absolutely brilliant game supported by absolutely brilliant developers who cares deeply for long term support
Better than the snail taking my soul, runs perfectly fine and no lag at all, somehow
Reasons for quitting
The main complaint of the 86 reviewers who say they stopped or are quitting
What they use it for
93 of 2,452 reviewers said; shares are of them
HOI4 is a game of grand strategy wrapped in endless technical frustrations. After hundreds of hours, here is my honest breakdown of its flaws: CONS & EXPLOITS: Brain-dead AI: The artificial...
This is honestly one of the best strategy games based off of history ive ever played. Playing with my friends on this games makes it even more fun to play considering how many countries we can choose.
I have way too many hours in this game and I don’t think a second of them were the vanilla game. 8/10 a confusing but fun way to kill an afternoon
What they ask for
47 reviews ask for something
Who is saying it
The biggest clear differences between audiences; 6 more with a free account
RecommendationRecommended: mention difficulty 2.3x as often as everyone (55% vs 23%).
TenureLong-time user: say they're quitting 7.6x as often as everyone (24% vs 3%).
Made with OneStar's Steam review analyzer. Run one on your own game or a competitor's, free with no card. Wondering whether a wave of thumbs down is real? Read how to tell a review bomb from a real problem.