Hearts of Iron 2 golden

Paradox Entertainment today announced that the PC title Hearts of Iron 2 has gone gold and is on schedule to ship on January 4 in North America and in February 2005 in Europe. However, its announcement did not mention any price point or ratings information for the game.

Hearts of Iron 2 is the sequel to Hearts of Iron, the 2002 WWII real-time strategy title. Using division-level strategy, players will control of a country of their choosing during the massive mid-20th century conflict. They will need to use diplomacy as well as military strategy to make alliances, develop technology, and streamline production to win the war.

Gaming generals will be able to wage war over four major campaigns and can battle up to 32 players online cooperatively or competitively. The game will release across several regions, and no doubt Paradox is making sure things go a bit smoother after its Chinese-localized version of Hearts of Iron riled up the Chinese government.

For more on Hearts of Iron 2, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of the game, including our hands-on preview of it.