Paradox Interactive has announced that "Europa Universalis III" has gone gold and is on schedule to ship on January 23rd in North America, January 26th for Scandinavia and Germany, February 10th for Australia, and February 2nd for the UK, France and Benelux.

"In Europa Universalis III, the player takes control of a nation and guides it through the ages to become a great global empire. Unparalleled in its depth and historical accuracy, Europa Universalis gives players freedom to rule their nation from an impressive choice of over 250 historically accurate countries.

"Europa Universalis is the series that started it all for us and with this release all the expertise and experience we have accumulated over the years has culminated in a worthy continuation of the franchise" says Fredrik Wester, Director of Sales and Acquisitions. "We expect the game to appeal not only to fans of our previous games but gamers who appreciate immersive strategy games in general".

Europa Universalis is rated E for Everyone by ESRB, 12+ by PEGI and 6 years by USK."