EU5’s update 1.4 finally has a date attached to it. The open beta for Río Salado begins October 1, 2026. The developers put it in their own words: “We plan to open the doors to 1.4 when the open beta launches on October 1st, and beta feedback will be a crucial step in tuning what the final version of 1.4 will look like.”

One clarification up front, because it is the easiest way to misread that quote. October 1 is the start of the open beta, not the day the stable release drops. The final version of 1.4 comes later, once beta feedback has shaped it, and the stable release follows on October 28, 2026.

The source: a roadmap update, not the original roadmap

The news comes from an update to Paradox’s “Grand Voyage Roadmap,” posted September 22, 2026 on the official Steam community page for Europa Universalis V, delivered jointly by Community Manager Ryagi, Associate Game Director David, and Studio Manager Johan Andersson.

This is specifically the update to that roadmap, not the original Grand Voyage Roadmap reveal from May 4, 2026. The two posts sit more than four months apart, and the plan clearly shifted in between (several DLCs were already being pushed back as of the May reveal). Everything in this article reflects the September 22 version only, and nothing from the May post is blended into it.

The same announcement does double duty: it names update 1.5 for the first time and announces update 2.0. That makes this three stories in one, so they are kept separate below. For the full running list of everything confirmed in 1.4 itself, the Río Salado hub article is the standing index.

Update 1.5: officially named “Fealty”

1.4’s immediate successor is now officially called Fealty. The roadmap update previews it only briefly, and three things about it are confirmed.

Incidents. A new way to inject narrative content into EU5, described as a “middle ground” between a full Situation and a Disaster, filling what the developers call an existing “Mini Situation” gap. Incidents were actually teased once already, in the closing section of Tinto Talks 124, the trade and tariffs diary, without being dated to any specific update. This roadmap update pins that down: Incidents land in 1.5.

More proactive Estate requests. The stated goal is giving estates “more ways to act proactively rather than reactively.”

A continuation of the Christianity framework. The Christianity work that 1.4 introduces gets carried forward, described as making it “more fluid and textured,” with “more levers for the player.” The developers are explicit that this is a continuation of the same framework 1.4 puts in place, not a separate new system.

Update 2.0: the “Discovery Update,” announced for the first time

Then there is 2.0, which this same announcement reveals, and it is named the “Discovery Update.” The developers describe it as set to be “the biggest update in EU5’s history” once it arrives. Four things are confirmed about its direction, and nothing more:

• Ambitions finally land here. The feature that was previously delayed out of 1.4 is now confirmed to arrive in 2.0, alongside a revitalized Content Delivery System (CDS).
• 1.4 and 1.5 systems get expanded. Expeditions, Decisions, and Incidents (the last one introduced in 1.5) will all be “expanded on or added to” in 2.0, so the update builds on the previous two rather than replacing them.
• Exploration and Colonization get reworked. Both are set to be revitalized as part of 2.0.
• That is all that is public. The developers explicitly say they are not ready to share in-depth details on the Discovery Update yet, so this is an early directional preview and nothing more. Any specific mechanics for 2.0 would be invention at this point, and this article does not go there.

What the beta date means for this site’s 1.4 coverage

Every 1.4 preview article on this site has carried the same standing caveat: none of it could be tested before the open beta, because the update had no stable release date yet. That includes the Political Influence guide, the Expeditions guide, the Decisions and Content Tab piece, and the trade, tariffs, and Promote Industry guide. The caveat now has an expiry date.

When the beta doors open on October 1, that body of preview coverage stops being theory and starts being content readers can verify themselves. It is a better position for the site to be in, and the confirmation that 1.5 Fealty and the Discovery Update are on the road behind 1.4 means the diary-driven coverage is not ending, it is getting a schedule.