Europa Universalis: Rome is a grand strategy game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The game is set during the time of the Roman Republic, beginning in 280 BC with the start of the Pyrrhic war, and ending with the rise of the Roman Empire in 27 BC. Players have a choice of leading any of over 53 factions, which represent 10 prominent cultures including Carthaginian, Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in April 2008, followed by a OS X version ported by Virtual Programming in July 2008.