Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron is a 2002 grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and originally published by Strategy First for Microsoft Windows. A Mac OS X version was released by Virtual Programming the following year. In 2004, Atari SA published Hearts of Iron: Platinum, an updated version that sought to improve several aspects of the game.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
Your like matters. Every heart nudges this game's GamingPickz Score and where it ranks (a small 5% of the score), so the lists get better for everyone.
- Released
- 2002
- Developer
- Development Studio
- Platforms
- 1 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 24 November 2002 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Development Studio |
| Publisher | Strategy First |
| Platforms | PC |
| Genres | Strategy |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q739918, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Hearts of Iron? How long to beat it
Total play time for Hearts of Iron is about 28.1 hours to do everything, and around 28.1 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 28.1h | 4 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Hearts of Iron sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Hearts of Iron lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 63ahead of 16% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 57ahead of 94% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Hearts of Iron
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
Loading reviews…
Did it run on your PC?
Tell other players how it ran on your machine. One tap, from your saved PC if you have one.
Where Hearts of Iron appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Hearts of Iron qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
Get the weekly rundown
One email a week: what moved in the rankings, what launched, and what dropped in price. No more than that, and unsubscribing takes one click.
We send the weekly email and nothing else. Your address is never sold, shared or used to build a profile, and it is not readable by anyone visiting this site. See our privacy policy.
Part of the Hearts of Iron series
Hearts of Iron is one of 3 Hearts of Iron games we track. See the whole series ranked by the GamingPickz Score, plotted on the grid, and listed in release order:
Hearts of Iron head to head
See Hearts of Iron compared side by side, on score, price, specs and more:
Common questions about Hearts of Iron
What platforms is Hearts of Iron on?
Hearts of Iron is available on PC. It first released in 2002.
Who made Hearts of Iron?
Hearts of Iron was developed by Development Studio and published by Strategy First.
How long does it take to beat Hearts of Iron?
about 28.1 hours for the main story, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.