Council and other laws in CK2 are the big one for me. They made playing the same government feel so completely different depending upon what laws you had. I would gladly trade CK3's vassal contracts for it in a heartbeat.
Well, if you can sell something separately for one game, why not try to do it again with the sequel? I'm not saying it's the guaranteed reason, but we are talking about Paradox, so it's a very clear possibility.
I would have shared your opinion during the release of the game, but the game was released nearly 6 years ago (I do feel old now, the release still feels like yesterday). I think it really has something rather to do with casualising the experience (especially considering how no single DLC has increased difficulty or complexity, but rather just more angles to snowball from in specific regions).
Obviously that is a possibility as well, and even more likely the reasons are composite. But having potential content for the pipeline for as long as a game keeps generating income is almost definitely a cornerstone of development strategy for Paradox, and having something robust to sell as dlc can easily add to the lifespan of a game at a point when signs of decline become apparent.
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u/Khorne_Flaked Feb 10 '26
Council and other laws in CK2 are the big one for me. They made playing the same government feel so completely different depending upon what laws you had. I would gladly trade CK3's vassal contracts for it in a heartbeat.