As part of the new strategy, Paradox Interactive announced the termination of the development of several titles at once. Such a decision will negatively affect the Swedish publisher’s profit for the third quarter. The cancellation of the projects will cost the company 135 million Swedish kronor ($15.4 million).Crusader Kings 3
Paradox Interactive reported this last week.
The company intends to focus its resources on “proven gaming niches and projects.”
We are talking, first of all, about global strategies and construction simulators, for which Paradox Interactive is known. In order to minimize the risks, the company will stop working on experimental titles.
In total, since the third quarter of 2020, Paradox Interactive has canceled a number of unannounced games totaling 265 million Swedish kronor ($30.3 million).
“We decided to narrow down our pipeline in order to provide projects with the highest potential with the necessary resources. Now we have several promising games in production, and I look forward to sharing them with players over the next few years,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive.
Currently, there are 15 projects in the pipeline of the Swedish company, including new IP and sequels of existing franchises. Among them — Victoria 3, Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, as well as console versions of Crusader Kings 3 and the Shadowrun trilogy.
Paradox Interactive announced the cancellation of projects against the background of the resignation of CEO Ebba Ljungerud (Ebba Ljungerud). She left the company last month due to disagreements in her views on the chosen development strategy. It is worth noting that the last months under the leadership of Lyngerud have been extremely unsuccessful for the Swedish publisher. According to the results of the first quarter of 2021, Paradox reported a 44% decrease in profit in annual terms.
Her place was just taken by Wester, who already led the company from 2009 to 2018.