Paradox abandons multiple unannounced projects to focus on 'proven game niches'

Victoria 2 — (Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

One month after the surprise departure of former CEO Ebba Ljungerud, Paradox Interactive has announced the cancellation of work on several unannounced projects. Paradox said it decided to pull the plug on the games so that it can instead focus on "proven game niches and projects that better meet the company’s requirements on returns and risk."

Those "proven game niches," of course, are strategy games. "It is where we have our heart and our mind and we are passionate about making games that our players can enjoy over a long period of time," Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester said. "Therefore we have sharpened our pipeline further to ensure that the projects with the highest potential have the resources necessary for the best possible development."

The past year has not been kind to Paradox, or the people who work there. There was excitement around the announcement of Victoria 3 in May, but the anticipated crime management sim Empire of Sin didn't live up to expectations, the wheels came off Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and the reaction to the Europa Universalis 4: Leviathan expansion was so overwhelmingly negative that the game director formally apologized for years of "low quality releases."

The situation is worse internally: Shortly after Ljungerud's resignation, a majority of women responding to an internal survey revealed that they had experienced mistreatment or abuse in the workplace; a week after that, Wester—who Ljungerud had replaced in 2018—apologized for "inappropriate behavior" with another Paradox employee at a company conference that year.

Wester said in the statement that Paradox now has 15 games in development, some new and some sequels, four of which have been officially announced: Victoria 3, Crusader Kings 3 and the Shadowrun Trilogy for consoles, and—despite its troubles—Bloodlines 2.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.