Brands from Paradox Interactive
Many of the games I’ll pull out here today are from the “grand strategy” genre of games. But other projects usually have some kind of strategic element to them. Generally, strategy is a theme they are good at, and I would say they are the biggest and best at it.
Victoria
The Victoria series is a strategy game set in the Victorian era in which you can influence how the world will develop. You can play your way through how Europe developed or the colonization of Africa and other parts of the world, or you can try to see what would have happened if the world had developed in a different direction…
… the last volume of this series was II and it came out in 2010. Now the developers from Paradox Development Studio are working on Victoria III which is the long awaited sequel and which so far looks like it will be very busy and interesting.
All about Victoria III | Victoria III – why this game will be good? | Pre-order of Victoria III
Cities Skylines
Another well-known brand behind Paradox Interactive, this time purely as a publisher, is the successful city-building strategy Cities Skylines, which is the successor to EA’s well-known SimCity series, which failed in 2013 and Cities Skylines took advantage of the situation and took its place in this building genre.
As I mentioned, Paradox Interactive is purely a publisher here, and behind the Cities Skylines brand are the developers from Colossal Order, who are behind the successful strategy game Cities in Motion. The game was released in 2015 and since then the developers have been taking care of it, getting regular DLC and that’s why there are still between 10k and 30k players playing this game at any one time.
Abandoned Buildings in Cities Skylines | What is the goal of Cities Skylines? | First Steps in Cities Skylines | Information about DLC industries | Information about DLC Plazas and Promenades
Hearts of Iron
Another brand is Hearts of Iron, a World War II war strategy game that has already had four sequels. The first installment was released in 2002 and the games also fall into the genre of grand strategy games with the fact that unlike other strategy games from World War II here you do not play specific battles, but you control entire countries, deal with the economy and politics. In short, it’s strategy with everything…
…we got the last Hearts of Iron IV back in 2016, and like Cities Skylines, it’s a series loved and played by thousands of gamers. The game is constantly being worked on and getting more and more DLC. For example, now at the time of writing the DLC By Blood Alone is announced which will focus on Italy.
Yes, you’re not playing for “detail” so you’re not playing individual battles like you would in a WWII focused strategy game, but thanks to the rest of the game’s functionality you don’t need that detail.
List of Hearts of Iron IV DLC | How do you create a civil war in HOI4? | Is HOI4 accurate? | Why is HOI4 so popular? | Will there be a Hearts of Iron 5? | Should I puppet or annex in HOI4?
Stellaris
Stellaris doesn’t have as much history as the other brands from Paradox Development Studio, and it’s also not focused on history. In this game, we are in the far future (i.e. sci-fi) and your mission is to explore and take over as much of the galaxy as possible. In fact, this was the first game from Paradox Interactive that I played and it led to me falling in love with the grand strategy game genre.
As is the rule in this genre so you have to combine several different levels of play. You have to explore, build strength, play diplomatically and most importantly ensure you get enough resources.
There is a pretty good mobile version of this game, which I played for a while and I didn’t find it as pay to win as other games if you like sci-fi and want a game in the genre of grand strategy so Stellaris will be the game exactly for you.
Prison Architect
Introversion Software is the studio behind the Prison Architect brand and has joined forces with Paradox as publisher. I think that Prison Architect has been an indie game for a long time. This game has had great success with players due to the unconventional environment you find yourself in.
As the name suggests you become the boss of the prison and your goal is to manage everything to keep the prisoners happy and not to escape.
The game has already received over 7 DLCs that expand the game in different directions. Paradox is following the same policy as the other games and still quite a lot of people are playing the game. The game has been given a story and you can also play as a prisoner and try to escape or cause a riot.
More games by Paradox Interactive
- Crusader Kings
- Europa Universalis
- Surviving Mars
- Empire of Sin
- Battletech
- Surviving the Aftermath
- World of Darkness
- Imperator: RomeAge of Wonders
- Knights of Pen & Paper
- Magicka
- Pillars of Eternity
- Shadowrun
- Steel Division: Normandy 44
More information about Paradox Interactive
- Looks Good, Plays Perfect
- Gives Agency to the Player
- Challenges the Mind
- Offers an Endless Experience
- Invites a Deeper Dive
The main sources of revenue for Paradox Interactive are as follows:
- Basic payment for full game
- Add-ons
- Expansion packs
- Licesnes
Finally, the company is publicly traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the ticker PDX.
Is Paradox Interactive a good company?
From my perspective as a player? > yes. From an employee’s point of view? > I can’t say.
From what I look at the employee ratings on various portals, the company seems to have an average score. But when I look at other companies in the gaming industry, it looks like the average score is similar for all companies.
Is Paradox Interactive owned by Tencent?
Paradox is a publicly traded stock company in which Tencent owns about 9.12%.
Who is the CEO of Paradox Interactive?
The current CEO of Paradox is Fredrik Wester, who took up the position on 1 September 2021 after the immediate departure of the previous CEO Ebba Ljungerud. According to Linkedin, Fredrik Wester has been a long-term member of Paradox since 2003 and has served as CEO between 2009 and 2018.
Is Paradox making a new game?
Yes, Paradox Interactive is currently working with Paradox Development Studios on Victoria III, which should be released in the second half of this year.
What’s the most popular Paradox game?
Currently the most popular game from Paradox Interactive is Hearts of Iron IV.
What’s the most sold Paradox game?
The biggest selling game with Paradox Interactive as publisher is estimated to be Prison Architect and Cities: Skylines, where sales are estimated between 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 units. Europa Universalis IV, Crusader Kings III, Hearts of Iron IV and Stellaris have estimated sales between 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 units.
