Why is Hoi4 So Popular?
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Hearts of iron 4 was released on june 6th 2016 and it sold 200,00 copies after 2 weeks of release making it the most well received product in the paradox strategy collection… This was due to a variety of things mainly… A large marketing campaign An already dedicated fanbase A salvaged reputation And a good release of a previous game In this video we will follow the timeline of Hoi4 and the adjustments its made to stay relevant…
Notable UA-camrs Mentioned: @TommyKay @Bokoen1 @iSorrowproductions @thespiffingbrit @FeedbackGaming
Twitter: / sponkoo
Discord: / discord
Twitch: / sponko_
L
i need an editor
hmu on discord if you know how
i know how
I don’t lol
am pro
sponko is gay
@@ugfpandas007 why did u reply then idiot
Never underestimate man's desire to paint maps and encircle units
*When you go back to a peace treaty for the third time because the new map still doesnt look like exactly as you want it to look like
The world denounce it, but there's always a bit of Britain inside every man.
I remember when I was a kid I would play on paint and pretend I was moving armies around. I’m so glad this game exists
This is the #1 thing for me. There aren't many things in gaming as satisfying as encircling a f ton of divisions.
Pretty interesting, small little footnotes for added historical YT stuff. I made a video or two when the game came out but nothing special and definitely lost to time, I think I was just playing Canada and shitting on the game.
My channel probably only ever blew up from playing Kaiserreich in November 2016, I remember in December alone I’d refresh my UA-cam and my sub count would go up in the hundreds sometimes thousands every refresh which was pretty astounding at the time.
And lastly my best ever month on UA-cam in terms of views was actually last year around October right in the midst of Hoi4 A2Z which actually gave me a couple videos with over 1 million+ views alone (both the Denmark and Czech videos) overall this was definitely a blast from the past. Thanks for tagging me in it for the nostalgias.
You have a position of one the greats of the hoi4 community, we thank you for being our slave.
Funny rat man is here
Every releasable nation A-Z Anti-Tank only month of madness when?
do light tank only Tannu Tuva world conquest
ISP
I think the reason why hoi4 is so good is because it's pretty fun to learn because you can figure out the mechanics yea it's a steep curve but the youtubers like bittersteel and feedbackgaming with there guides
Alex and bittersteel helped me master the game damn well
And then there is tommykay who just makes himself look good but never actually shows enough of the game to show how he does it. No hard feelings for him tho, he still cool
@@michaelchristy5652 yea if you watch his UA-cam you don't know whats happening but his live streams are abit better
@Aleksandar Milović look up a guide
@Aleksandar Milović well then test it
it allows me to carve out my fascist dystopian fantasies
(most progressive hoi4 player btw)
this comment was paid for by vice
@@currahee ☺️
Wow such a leftist smh
I am a leftie Liberal and i think this is based
True
To me Hoi 4 is still mostly kept with interest for it's modding community and diversity in what they provide, you can go from German won WW1 timeline which feels like an extra mode to the base game, be a warlord in postapocaliptic wasteland from Fallout and even genocide whole nations as talking horses from that one kids show. The level of replayablitly to this game that mods bring are for me and many others decide to still not touch grass.
Edit. I wanted to edit few spelling errors and lost my heart, bruh
mods basically saved the game from death
@@AdrianRO1918 actually multiplayer is the biggest reason why it’s still alive.
@@visigoth3696 no lmao. multiplayer is nothing without mods
@@AdrianRO1918 facts. out of the 1000 hours i got on the game, maybe 40 is the basegame. everything else falls under mods like kaiserreich, kaiserredux, tno, red flood etc
yeah me to. i am 400 hour in hoi4 mostly in owb with random warlords. bdw ave truth to ceasar!
+1 because its set a more modern era
Damn feedback u kinda missed the hype on this vid
set a more
I wish there was more on an hands on rts approach like controlling your troops and all.
Honestly, I think it's updates may be it's downfall, every update has made it more complicated, e.g, designers, supply, bigger focus tress, complex navy, army generals, resistance etc, there needs to be a "beginer mode" where resistance is AI controlled, navy is simple, generic tank designs, and auto supply
yes to boats
naval mechanics are very shit and need to be fixed
I won’t understand anything of the plane designer. Also I live is Israel and the full game here costs about five hundred shekels or about one hundred and sixty dollars, and although the game is worth it most people can’t afford a 160$ game (with all the dlc)
Altough more complex, i found updates make things 'easier'. I remember old resistance.... and i hope i never have to go back. The same with supply now
Disable dlc
Isn't the more feature the funner?
Isorrowproductions was the reason I started playing hoi4, if it wasnt for his video appearing in my recommended 4 years ago I would have never bought this game
Same here, too bad he fell off tho
Same, I was thinking in buying HOI4 because one roblox game I played (I believe its name is Rise of Nations) and I wanted more complete but I was reluctant if I should buy it or not until I saw one his video about El Salvador invading Japan and I finally decided to buy it lmao Best decision ever
I remember when hoi4 first came out I pirated the game not understanding a single thing and shortly after I found Isorrowproductions his vids taught me everything
@@eduparada970 AY same here but what rise of nations does not have is A HUGE PONY MOD LIKE WHAT THE HELL
Absolutely same i played this game because of his videos
As a total conversion modder, I cannot stress how much the modding scene of HOI4 has kept the game alive, and how much HOI4's mechanics facilitate modding in a way that no other Paradox GSG can. The focus tree system sets HOI4 apart from games like EU4 and CK3, turning it away from the more traditional map painting sandbox game and towards a more narrative-driven game. This is strongly reflected in the most popular mods - Kaiserreich, EaW, TNO, OWB all of these mods are incredibly popular because they provide compelling stories with cool alternative histories or fictional settings. While being less friendly to sandbox-style play (see: the game completely shits itself if you go alt-history and get weird shit like the Whites in Russia supporting the Stalinists in Spain because the game hardcodes the Soviets to be friendly to those, regardless of ideology), it more than makes up for it by providing a really amazing tool for crafting narratives. It's just a shame Paradox themselves didn't realise this until quite a few DLC's in.
TL;DR 6/10 game but 15/10 foundation for modding and modders are carrying this game like fucking Atlas.
yeah its not a game for me u barely control the army or even participate within a battle. Fps still my go to
fr when i discover there can be custom achievement i was like *_w h a t_*
@chrisalex82 Yeah implementing those was so much fucking fun
While it is mentioned. I feel like the array of mods available for HOI4 played a large part of it's success and because of that it'd should've been mentioned more within the video. For example, I would've never downloaded HOI4 if it wasn't for TNO and later Kaiserreich and TWR.
bruh you ve played tno first and then kaiserreich?
@@AdrianRO1918 Yes.
@@Clev9 How can TNO be "doomed from the start" if it hasn't ended yet. It's still in active development with the latest update having recently gone into active testing before it's released. So why are you talking like TNO has been abandoned and this was always going to be it's fate?
@@Clev9 >Doomed
>Is still under active development
>is still releasing updates
People who strongly dislike TNO just don't like EU4 or Vicky2
@@ravleow9748 More of the massive controversy it got into with the dev team. Or the fact they are trying to add mechanics into the game which don't exist in the base so the AI can't even begin to handle said mechanics without a massive rework. And also the fact the mod's stability comes into question depending on what happens. like if you manage to instant cap a great power with paratroopers and finish the peace deal the mod strait ups crashes. Also if I wanna managed economics I'll just play Vicky2 then. HOI4's timeframe is not built for decades and constant focus tree changes from leader to leader. [base is 1936 to 1948 which is 12 years and by 45 the AI really starts dying.]
I love when a game’s community is big enough for someone to create an analysis and essay of the game.
Many games have done this
One thing not mentioned at all here is the incredible growth of the playerbase.
HOI IV averaged 10,000 players post launch and is now at an average of 45,000. Honestly incredible for any game to still have a growing base after all these years.
For me its mostly the huge variety of high quality mods for the game. I have barely played Hoi4 Vanilla, but I've played a lot of Kaiserreich, Old World Blues or mods that expand the basegame like Road to 56.
Don't want to be that guy but i suggest mastering vanilla before you go into mods. It's like driving an automatic car before a manual one.
@@mihnea-um5gy I think I've got that covered with 2000 hours ^^
@@sako5751 then why do you say barely played hoi 4 vanilla?
@@mihnea-um5gy Because I barely played HOi4 Vanilla and almost exclusively played modded Hoi4 :)
You dont really have to play a lot of Hoi4 Vanilla, you can just learn Hoi4 while playing Kaiserreich or other mods, since they're mostly similar gameplaywise
@@sako5751 playing with mods? that's sad
Small note, kaiserreich released much earlier than the workshop page might represent, since it actually had to swap pages. I remember there was a time where BOTH kaiserreich pages were on the top rated of the workshop cuz the old one still had that much interaction from before, which was released to the workshop Dec, 2016. Kaiserreich releasing at the end of 2016 also helped a lot because it really helped stifle how bad TFV was and keep the community playing the game, and was updated at the same pace as the game, it really felt like there was double the amount of updates as kaiserreich would drop a large update inbetween droughts of official content
ngl drew is the youtuber who got me to play this game even though he barely played it himself because he showed me the amount of things i could do in this game and man, buying this game is one of the best decisions i have ever made.
Drew introduced me
ISP keeps me entertained
Alex the rambler... That's where I learnt about the hunbke bundle deal and actually got the game for €1
Main reason is that it’s focused on WW2 and recruit difficulty makes the game a bit easier for femboys, Soviet kids, Kaiserboos, that make up 70% of the community
Don't forget werhraboos
@@Liam-uq7rb well he said Femboys didn't he?
femoboys? what is this?
@@ninguemlg boy with skirt and wig
Recruit difficulty is also good for people with skill issues, like me
One thing i hate about the 2 latest released DLCs is that thh new focus trees look nothing like the old ones. They are more messy and have fancy simbols , alot more fun*. Also, each individual DLC gives to much enfasy in one feature, making it disbalanced.
“Well, since not everyone can change history by their own hands. They can change it through the keyboard and a mouse instead.”
-Me who loves HOI4
This is my most played game at almost 600 hours, when I started seeing hoi4 content first time, there was only national unity. I got so good at single player I can win almost any war. Accept endseig, which I'm getting better and closer every try.
national unity? was this a precursor to stability?
@@currahee there was national Unity before stability and war support
me with 5200 hours (homer slide into bushes)
600h? You have to step up those roocky numbers !
@@aurelienrodriguez3252 still am, alot to do in mods still!
Hey Sponko thanks for making this video, It is detailed on the whole history of HOI4 so far. I remember hating HOI4 on release and loving it after together for victory. I have no lifed this thing for 4352.6 hours... I stopped playing this thing religiously 2020. However looking forward to this game coming back and being fun.
Honestly, I saw but never looked into HOI4 much until a friend started sharing and talking about Equestria at War. The MLP overhaul mod for the game that somehow puts a majority of the workshop content to shame with how much effort was put into it.
It was then that I slowly branched out into the base game and a variety of other mods that take advantage of the game's workshop support. I got to experience good times with Hololive of Iron even. The VTuber overhaul mod that was constantly updated into something more and more packed with content and references.
And now? I'm something of a HOI4 Modder myself. Currently working on figuring out how to get the AI to do what I want since documentation is a weak spot for the game. Still, it's been an emerging hobby for me.
I suppose that's why I'd say DShakey has been a top favourite UA-camr for HOI4 content. Seeing another person make his own mods to then showcase is entertaining as it is encouraging. Alex the Rambler has a nice casual flair to his videos and Pravus Gaming's uncondensed playthroughs of HOI4 mods was nice to catch onto smaller nuances of the mods as he figured them out.
If there's ever to be a HOI5, it has a grand mountain to surpass now. I look forward to that day but will happily play HOI4 for a long time.
This video being a year old shows how much better the game has gotten, hoi4 now has an ever growing player base and is becoming more and more well known
I haven't played vanilla hoi for over a year now. God bless Kaiserredux
I remember my first time watching OLD school TommmyKay. That day I knew I found something I would never forget
I think its interesting to note that a decent chunk of the fallout community started playing this game because of Old World Blues
the entire history of hoi4, i guess
don't forget that no step back introduced the sickest trailer ever and also the ability to print man outof nothing (ideological loaylty spirit of the army)
This game is like a sandbox about geopolitics on ww2 where we make decisions that are better than the historical leaders made. It is also fun, it is like playing a game and watching alternate history hub at the same time
I think it's popularity also has to do with the mods, like holy hell they're so good. TNO was the reason why I even got hoi4 in the first place.
it will be living hell for first 10hrs. after you learn micro, macro, which stats do what, then the real fun begins
8 years ago.
I feel so old.
Amazing video, one thing thought is that you forgot to mention Alex and Drew, and drew even quit hoi at some point but still made a lot of views and personally he made me discover hoi IV and the whole community
It shows such promise, it could be great, hoi4 keeps dlcing into what we wanted in hoi3 by 2052 with 15 more dlc it will be🙏
HOI4 is a very arcady and player friendly game that gives you freedom to lead a nation during the Second World War. Personally as someone who started from HOI2, HOI3 BI has so much more depth than HOI4. But I guess the simplicity of HOI4 attracted a much larger player base which is a big success to Paradox.
Player friendly game? Seriously?
@@doctorwhat779 Yes
@@ShawkyJames they selling annexing puppet system with dlc, agency system with dlc but putting no step back's fucked up railway system to the main game and you says they are player friendly?
@@doctorwhat779 I think he was referring to the skill level required to play. games like CK2, Viccy 2 and EUIV are all pretty in depth and complex games to get a hand of, compared to HOI IV which is relatively user friendly
@@platinumm4730 yeah I know, this comments from two years ago and I was new at the game
I think the reason it's popular is simple in principle, but affects the entire direction of the game: it's war focused.
Unlike CK2, EU4, Vic2, and Stellaris, HOI4 is a game about war, so all its mechanics are put into the context of how they will affect the war. Combat is far more detailed, politics determines what side of the war you'll be on, the economy keeps the war effort going, stability and war support give buffs to your capacity to engage in war. Since warfare is the most active part of a grand strategy game, players feel more like they can actually *do* something instead of watching time pass and hoping for a good outcome.
It's also vastly simpler to mod than other Paradox titles, which helps keep the modding scene alive.
Why was the only ad I got for this video a “Are you gay?” test 🤔
Why is UA-cam only giving you one ad 😔
@@sponko because I’m gay
It allows me to restore the monarchies of the world
One of the best games I have ever played! I have 1500+ Hours on it, with all dlcs. I must say that the Dlcs are the thing that are keeping the game alive. Most like also Kaiserredux and other best mods.
because i like to look at maps for 10 hours to forget my crippling loneliness
If drew didn't pop up in my recommended in 2017, I would probably never play the game
I think the reason hoi4 became popular is because of its simplicity.
there is some depths, but it's not a case of putting a foot into the water and instantly drowning like previous grand strategy games.
you have relatively few and straight forward systems, which while they do have some weirdness to them, aren't apparent, and therefore it's not overwhelming. You get a few choice in each system at first, and get a pretty good idea of where it vaguely lead without having to read every step of the way.
So the new player experience (at least at first not without 25 dlcs pilling up) a new player can learn and launch themselves into their first game, and look deeper into it for later games after seeing what went wrong instead of having a cliff to climb at game launch.
After watching a sneak peak it might actually be kinda good
for my CalmDownLevelUp got me into hoi4 back in 2016 and even pc gaming in general as back then i only had an xbox one, xbox 360, and a sega dreamcast
It allows me to project my inner most fantasies without any repercussions. I hope they give us the options to commit war crimes in latest dlc.
Cool video, for a game i burried 7000 hours in
Allows me to war crime my little ponnies (least rightwing furry)
Yes, I was looking for this comment😅
Chirchy’s my fav hoi4 youtuber
2:54 as a Czech I feel anger
June 6 2016: Hoi4 released
June 6 1944:💀
HOI4 modding pretty much kept the game alive all these years, Millennium Dawn, The New Order, Kaiserreich, Road to 56 all made the game exponentially more interesting or just outright turns it into a different game like Millennium Dawn.
The secret to success for gaming is the ability to mod the hell out a game, all of the most popular and long lasting titles have extensive modding scene like Minecraft, Project Zomboid, Counter Strike, etc.
I remember me and my friend waiting for a Turkey-focused DLC. We talked about how much players Paradox has in Turkey etc.
That DLC turned turkey from a fun nation to play into a fucking annoyance. Atleast Bulgaria is fun.
@@TuniEich There is a rule in PDX - a new focus tree makes a nation weaker, except for fascist countries, those are buffed. Always. PDX are worst sort of wehraboos and in privacy probably even worse.
@@noldo3837 You are calling the staff Wehraboos because they "buffed" fascist nations? Seems legit.
@@noldo3837 bro have you played the Soviets, USA or China? after a couple years build up they get ridiculously strong
@@platinumm4730 I did, I have over 7k hrs, all achievements and all medals
Simple answer, only game where u can play as WW2 Germany without major setbacks.
I feel like TNO also deserves a mention for setting a precedent that made total overhaul mods jump in quality.
main reason is replayability. if you have reasons to play again, play different countries, have different plans, be different ideologies, it makes the game almost always fresh. it makes you return to it, and with a huge modding community, it only amplifies that.
Your editing isn't too bad. However, I feel like the video was just summing up each DLC one by one without really diving too much into the analytics. Also Kaiserreich came out before 2018. The title could also be something more like how it rises because as you said the game hasn't recovered since 2018 which was actually the year I first saw the game on UA-cam.
Anyone you have gained a sub and a like from the algorithm so you're doing a lot right.
I wanted to go more in depth but I had no clue how this video would do
@@sponko Something else I forgot to mention was how I think the departure of Drew Durnil from Hoi4 really hit the community and popularity of the game as he sort of faded away after 2019.
When Peter Griffin said: “Would you rather be homeless with a 5% chance of getting inherited by a rich guy, or be Hitler two years before the end of WW2?” I selected option 2. Who doesn’t wanna try being hitler?
Messed up big time. ALot of dead Jews
tldr edgy teens
I'd make sure not to discount some of the other youtubers that have split off over time...Rimmy (Rimmy Downunder) honestly was a big reason why I suck around for hoi4 with his relatable yet quirky personality to say the least
Also his approach to content like his Infamous "peaceful" bad man video.
No step back has to be the best Trailer I've ever seen
I play both HOI 3 and 4. I would say UA-cam is probably the bigger reason why this succeeded along with being a lot more simple with it’s frontline mechanics. I mean despite the videos by a few with gameplay of HOI3.
UA-camrs like EmpireErwinRommel and Marco Antonio. Hoi3 didn’t get enough attention likely because it was seen as too micro-management focus.
Which is true unless you play Germany or Japan they have good ai.
Which is easier, if you have all the dlcs.
With hoi4 I hate the manpower and resistance system. I prefer hoi3’s manpower system and resistance system. Yes you get uprisings but they’re usually restricted to one province uprisings and not a national scale.
If you add the war goal of taking western Poland in TFH as Germany Poland cannot enact a mass uprising (hilarious). You can do this to France and Belgium and Netherlands by adding the war goal to take their lands in Europe. Take northern and western France whilst also adding the “fall of France” goal. Free IC and manpower increase for Germany.
It is much easier to get manpower in HOI3 than in hoi4 I’d rather not wait for war support or political power. It’s all dictated by money and neutrality levels.
It’s easy by simply assigning spies to increase threat from the Soviets and enact consumer goods economy to ensure the game detects your neutrality as high and allows you to select the prepare for war decision. Or align with the Axis.
I’ve done these methods in hoi3 to build a big Yugoslavia which is fun. Although if you join axis Germany will be weaker thanks to you taking Austria and Czechoslovakia.
Either way in spite of all this, I very much enjoy HOI4 it is also ridiculously easy to play too. HOI3 maybe takes some time but over time you get used to it.
Stop censoring.
I think reducing the Modding aspect of Hoi4 to just the colored buttons and Ksiderreich is criminal.
You got things like The New Order, Equestria at War, Metro, Europe in Flames, Red World, Road to 56, New Ways, my favourite Old World Blues, and so many many more.
Nice WW2 videos
I think when Drew Durnil left that summed it up. Paradox games are a 60/40 community. 60% are history nuts and 40% are the MP guys who don't get why a game all about a quasi realistic WW2 sim isn't appealing to most people because some countries like France and Poland are fucked (as they should be).
I think the meta stuff is what kills is most of all though, some MP dork goes and does a CAS only run, it ruins the illusion the WW2 4x is good. Plus the plane/navy/tank designers go way too far.
I must be the only HOI4 player that actually LOVES naval in this game.
I mean.. I did make TWO ultimate naval tutorials, one is 5 hours long lol...
Bought this game, played for about 30 minutes and refunded this crap, there’s no way I’m stairing at a map and numbers for hours and hours trying to learn each and every detail about this game
You just admitted to skill issue
bro has no attention span
@@justacat2 you have too be alittle bit autistic or on drugs too sit and stair at a map and numbers for 2,3 or 4 hours at a time
@@Okay-pr9fp bro ur right how can people look at maps for so long
I sort of agree. It gets boring after a while, and there isnt that much replayability either. No matter what mods you use, the game is pretty much just staring at numbers and waiting for something to happen so you can click a couple times, only to go idle and wait again. I have a couple hundred hours in hoi4 and victoria 3, and i am already bored of both.
As someone who recently got into it this year, the best way I can explain my addiction is that it’s a bit like gambling. The euphoria you get when your plan/gamble pays off is so sweet! To say nothing of the buildup that proceeds
Controversial opinion: Equestria at war Is the best Mod on the hoi4 workshop
you didn't talk about the BEST mod of Hoi4
Equestria at war
It actually allows to create the most out of shit world scenario ever
I bought this game one month after it came out around Aug 9, 2016. It was my entry point to Paradox games. As a history fan, I quickly became enamored to what seemed like a endless amount of options and lots of control over everything. I seen many mods come and go (even tried making my own) and something about the gameplay being refined over the years has definitely made a difference. Compared to the base game, it’s mindblowning how the mechanisms used to work like supply and Air Force. Each new update on new mechanics also made me hesitant but I have come to appreciate like oil and supply lines
250hrs in and instill have no idea how to play this game and I still love it.
Nearly infinite re-playability plus insane modding.
There, saved you 10 minutes (great vid btw)
I personally love the political aspect of it.
-Improving relations
-Trade opinion factors
-Selling military -equipment
-embargo
-puppeting nations
-propaganda
Basically all the quick political power decisions make it feel as if you're actually being a prime minister and/or dictator. Heck even the ideology changing mechanic (although not a big fan of the la resistance) i mechanic) i do appreciate wholeheartedly its design. It did get quite more complicated but it's a war strategy game so that was bound to happen. I just hope that they stay focused on improving and adding focus trees & more events that evolve around the selected country, such as the Hindenburg disaster for example. More politics and national events at the time, that would be awesome :)
USSR no step back’s trailer popular on youtube
Because for the first time Paradox did something unusual for their games - simplified it for more casual playerbase so that it'll be fun to play and easier to learn. And if someone wanted "true classical" HoI experience... they'd be told to f//ck off in direction of Black Ice-like mods;)
Hoi4 is like an abusive relationship, you hate it but you keep coming back for more
I thought this game was lame but when you and the homies get together and drink while playing mods it’s god tier
As someone who actually enjoys playing as Poland...This game is still awesome.
Good video mate, off to waiting for the next one
Drew Durnil is why i started playing Hoi4..
No mention of Old World Blues? The 2nd greatest mod right after Kaiserreich? And Kaiserreich’s only real competitor?
I think i wrote down it but I forgot to put it in
@@sponko Unlike Kaiserreich which is mostly just regular Hoi4 players playing it, OWBs attracted an entirely new group of players to the games with Fallout fans. Not to mention just how well made it is.
This game takes my sanity alone with it to the point I wonder why am I even playing this but I still do
I love hearts of iron and how stupid it can be. The boarder gore, the lack of supply despite level 5 rail roads and of course the absurdly expensive supply hubs. The fact that I have over 3000 hours in it and still don’t understand the navy
The navy just needs a few more submarines
Stalin GUIDED Marketing
To me, Hoi4 quite literally changed my life. History became a subject of boredom to fascination.
Bokoen1's early videos are what got me into history, and I learned things from those I don't think I was ever taught in school. I knew so much that I got an award in 8th grade for history. It's definitely not my crowning achievement in life, but I credit this game to it.
I have 2k hours in this game, 70% spent on millennium dawn, kaiserriech and old world blues, that tells you a lot on why this game is successful
Its simple its because its hard to play but fun at the same time
No mention of TNO in the video?
Good, 10/10 vid.
I did the maths and there is at least 6,524 different scenarios that could happen
The mod Millennial Dawn satisfy my modern day needs, let alone an awesome WW2 setting
I knew I wasn’t crazy when ISP used to say Sorrows
It’s the theme, WW2 is far more familiar to people than The Victorian era
I see you focused more on the flamboyant hoi4 content creators. I honestly found hoi4 content via Taureor and Alex the Rambler. But I do agree ISP's mental health is something to be concerned about.
Part of the reason hoi4 is so popular is a mixture of love for history and modding community, I haven't played vanilla hoi in quite some time
I think a big reason is the appeal of being "a general" commanding the army and the military industry of a country. It's a niche that no other game, at least that I know off, has tried to fill like Hearts of Iron 4. Like outside of the limited scale of RTS games like Starcraft and Command and Conquer, where you fight on one map at a time, and a restricted to mostly one "front", which other game offers a globe spanning world war 2 experience that is somewhat historically accurate.
Actually a good break down of the games popularity and its flaws.
In my opinion what makes it great is, that it is a great strategy game that also allows (modding communities) to turn it into anything they want
ISP releasing kaiserriech videos was the reason I started playing in winter 2016. The funny thing is until this year I literally just had base hoi4 which I had bought for 5 bucks in a sale. To this day I have never played single player unmodded hoi4, with only 1 game of mp unmodded. I like other paradox games more, but alt history mods is where hoi4 shines for me, so it always has its place in my gaming rotation.
I have been playing since HoI2 when I was 11 and I was honestly shocked when alot of my friends started to play HoI4. It's great having friends to play with in these games now.