Little Big Paradox

Growing big by keeping it small seems to be a formula that works for Paradox Interactive. They have an interesting history having evolved from a developer of niche hardcore grand strategy games to a small publisher that with the advent of digital distribution grew and at their annual conference in New York City they showcased a line up with 17 games spanning from their traditional offerings such as Crusader Kings II to the multiplatform tower defence game Defenders of Ardania, the action packed wizard sim Magicka, and a range of free-to-play online games headlined by titles such as Dreamlords Resurrection and Gettysburg: Armored Warfare.

One of the keys to success has been their refusal to take the advise of others. They have been told that hardcore PC gaming is dying, that it would be suicide to go into publishing, that digital distribution is way off in the future and that the online free-to-play market is overcrowded. Yet, that's the path they have walked and it has taken them very far from humble beginnings.

It's been quite a journey since Gamereactor attended the first Paradox Interactive Convention back in December 2007 when three games were on display - Europa Universalis: Rome, Penumbra: Black Plague and Lost Empire: Immortals.

Last year Paradox Interactive grew 45 per cent with 70 percent of the revenue coming from digital distribution, and they also debuted on consoles with Lead and Gold: Gangs of the West that came out on PSN. This year they are bringing out Defenders of Ardania on iPad and the game is also being targeted for console download services (both PSN and XBLA are being considered, but nothing can be confirmed at this point), and there is always the possibility that the upcoming PC release Magicka will see a release on console at a later date.

"We want to reach gamers on all platforms. We don't want to be PC gaming only," says Paradox Interactive CEO Fredrik Wester. "But it has to make sense, we don't want to dumb down the experience."

And to be honest, even if Paradox Interactive are branching out into new areas, their roots are still firmly planted in historical grand strategy games. With both the internally developed Crusader Kings II and Pride of Nation (developed by Paradox France, formerly known as AGEOD), as well as the mod-turned-full game Magna Mundi from Universo Virtual, planned for release within 12 months of each other and Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland coming this summer there is a lot to look forward to for fans of traditional Paradox titles. The only cloud on the horizon is how the tight release schedule will impact sales.

"Hopefully these titles won't cannibalise each other too much, and we'll sell enough units to turn a small profit on all of them and make them into franchises," says Wester.

And the games are very different in what they offer players. Crusader Kings II with its focus on characters, family, plots and ambitions, Pride of Nations with its focus on 8 major powers and how they end up colonising the rest of the world from the mid 19th century and onwards, and Magna Mundi with a massive 400 plus playable nations and historical accuracy. But there is of course, a bit of internal competition going on as expressed by Paradox head of internal development, Johan Andersson:

"The economy system in Pride of Nations is going to make Victoria II look like a children's game."

Harsh words from Johan Andersson, who was the producer of Victoria II, a game released last summer, but also in indication of how Paradox are trying to use the knowledge and experience from previous products on new games across different developers.

Supreme Ruler: Cold War, from Battlegoat Studios, developers of Supreme Ruler 2010 and Supreme Ruler 2020, is another grand strategy title but this one sees you trying to build up your side through diplomacy, trade, espionage and research in order to gain an upper hand in the political mine field that was the cold war era. At some point things will heat up and military side of things is played out in real-time.

One of CEO Fredrik Wester's favourite game of recent times was Mount & Blade: Warband, a game he has played more than 120 hours of (as per his Steam log), mainly in the multiplayer also gets an expansion of sorts. Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword started out as a mod for Mount & Blade, but with the help of Mount & Blade developers TaleWorlds it is now a standalone product that builds on the fundamentals and engine of Warband, but adds firearms, new maps, a new multiplayer mode called Captain where up to 14 players, each commanding a squad do battle, as well as several enhancements of the siege mechanics.

Another new announcement was Defenders of Ardania - the next game set in the lighthearted fantasy world of Majesty. The game offers up a slight variation on the tower defence genre, as you will also produce your own troops to march across the board to confront your opponent. It's definitely one of the more casual titles in the Paradox line up for 2011, but it still has enough depth to stand out in a rather crowded genre.

Last week Paradox announced that they are once again teaming up with Hungarian Neocore Games for King Arthur II, sequel to King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame. A mix between real-time strategy and role-playing is what's on offer. There are lots of enhancements on the old game, but perhaps one of the more intriguing ones is the addition of air units. The new engine will also allow battles with up to 3000-4000 units and dark story of a crippled king with a wound that won't heal and a country that has fallen apart is an interesting fictional take on the legend of King Arthur and his knights. The game is still early in development so it wasn't shown in playable form at the event, but the developers are aiming to have a playable build at E3 and are targeting a release late in 2011.

Keeping to the RTS genre, Norwegian developers Turbo Tape Games were on hand to show of an early prototype of Naval War: Arctic Circle. A quite unique real-time strategy game were the battle really is one of knowledge. It may seem hard to hide units on open sea, but the playing area is so vast (the Northern part of the Atlantic Ocean), that units will be hidden from each thanks to the curvature of the Earth and since the weapons at your and your enemy's disposal are so powerful it really comes down to learning your enemy's positions before he knows yours. The prototype was very crude when it came to interface and was largely placeholder, but I can see this game finding an audience among patient war gamers. This is Turbo Tape's first commercial project after working on some educational software, and games for a museum in Bergen, Norway and while it was a very early look at the game (target for release in 2012) it did show promise.

Nitro Games, who are best known for their rather serious simulations East India Company and Commanders: Conquest of the Americas, next project is perhaps more closely related to their humorous Halloween expansion of Commanders called Woody Two-Legs and Pirates of the Caribbean than the two previous Paradox published games. With arcade style naval battles, make belief weapons such as heat seeking cannon balls and more of an RPG foundation to complement the real-time strategy battles. Nitro Games CEO Jussi Tähtinen explained: "The guys wanted to do a game where they could be a bit more creative", and Pirates of the Black Cove doesn't bog you down with too much seriousness. Sprung a leak? Well, just plug the hole with barrel one of your pirates uses as a leg.

A new direction for Paradox is free-to-play online games. There is the MMORPG slash RTS hybrid Dreamlords Resurrection developed by Lockpick Entertainment, that's currently in beta and expected to release soon. Then there is Hearts of Iron: The Card Game, a collectible card game based on the perhaps the most successful Paradox franchise Hearts of Iron. An idea born thanks to the number of staffers at Paradox who enjoy collectible card games. Then there is the crafting-MMO Salem, set in a mythical version of 18th century New England and alternate history MMORTS slash third person shooter Gettysburg: Armored Warfare, that puts the player in a scenario where the two sides in the American Civil War have gotten their hands on some steampunk style weapons of the future. It definitely looked different judging by the rough prototype on display.

"These titles are not very expensive, so we're not taking a major risk," says CEO Wester when asked about this new direction. "But they each have something unique and we want to be the best in that special segment. For instance we want to make the best crafting-MMO out there, simple enough as there are no other crafting-MMO's to my knowledge."

Salem is also interesting in that the game will largely be player created. Items, laws, cities, villages are created by players and persistent.

Then there were of course games that had gotten a bit longer and are close to being released. The lads from Arrowhead Game Studios showed of an near finished version of Magicka on PC, and Finnish Colossal Order looked very close to a finished product with transport sim Cities in Motion. And there was Swords of the Stars II, an 4X science fiction piece that Fredrik Wester hopes will eclipse one of his favourite games of all-time, Masters of Orion 2.

It's been an interesting couple of days in New York and you can expect more coverage from the Paradox Interactive Convention on GRTV in the near future.