The next Hearts of Iron 4 DLC is coming, and during the PDXCon Remixed opening show a teaser was dropped with the expansion's name. With some bombastic soviet-style music, tank chassis for the Red Army T-34, and a title card that says ‘No Step Back’, it tells us everything and nothing all at the same time.
We know that the new expansion for the WW2 grand strategy game, along with the accompanying 1.11 ‘Barbarossa’ update, will focus on improving land warfare with a specific focus on the Eastern Front. Poland is getting a new Focus Tree map, as are the Baltic states. The supply system is also being overhauled. The Soviet Union hadn't been mentioned before now, but game director Dan Lind confirmed at the show that the USSR is finally getting a much needed overhaul as well.
Out of all the major nations in Hearts of Iron IV, it’s the one that’s had the most player requests, and the one that’s been tweaked the least in the game’s five-year run so far. Italy is another major nation that’s also suffered some neglect, although given the theme we’d be surprised if a rework makes it into this expansion.
Here’s the trailer, so you can see it for yourself:
The USSR and the Eastern Front in general has been in the backs of the developer’s minds for a few years now. I spoke to them in 2019 – after the announcement of La Resistance – about Russia and even then it was something they wanted to look at, but felt they needed to get some other areas looked at first before tackling the Soviets.
Since this is just a teaser, there’s no news on a release window. The Hearts of Iron 4 team likes taking its time though, so this may not release this year. We’ll have to obsess over something else in the meantime.