Ahead of its launch next Tuesday, Paradox has a released a demo for historical strat-o-rama Europa Universalis IV. In slightly less pleasant news, though, it's announced that the Crusader Kings II save game converter offered as a pre-order bonus will otherwise cost a whopping $10. I'm normally hesitant to recommend pre-ordering but, well, if you like your history hard and heavy, it may save you quite a few dollars here.

The demo's over on Steam, cunningly concealed behind a giant "DOWNLOAD DEMO" button. Paradox explains that the demo lets you play through 28 years of history as one of four nations, each with very different styles--from trading to all-out war.

Paradox confirmed earlier this week that all the pre-order bonuses will be sold separately at launch too, and, well, their pricing does make pre-ordering quite tempting. The CK2 save converter, which lets people import their ragged empires and dynasties into the age of nations, will cost $9.99, while the pre-order bonus DLC will be $6.99.

Considering that pre-ordering also gets you a copy of Crusader Kings II--which has a ticket price of $40, though it's frequently on sale for $20--for yourself or a chum, well, it's tempting.