Paradox Interactive shut down nearly 50% of its games before they were released

During an investor event held on May 23, 2023, the senior management of Interactive paradox revealed that they have Deleted almost 50% off games In production prior to launch for the past 10 years. 71% of those launched were successful.

The publisher’s strategy for the next few years will be to focus on its most important series, while adding value for players to the titles already available through additional content such as DLCsPackages and more through subscriptions. Existing brands would then be expanded, while new intellectual property would be entrusted to the more successful studios.

Paradox also wants to look to third parties to help them grow, as they did with the Magicka and Cities: Skylines series and support smaller studios under the Paradox Arc label.

In terms of gaming, Paradox can boast an average playtime that’s 60% higher than its competitors in the grand strategy segment in steambut the company believes there is room for improvement by increasing player engagement.

So we talked about canceled games. Since 2013, Paradox has eliminated 47% of games in development before they are released. Many projects are abandoned in the early stages of development, because the publisher prefers to focus only on those games with high commercial potential that can become a direct service. That is why 15 out of 28 games released in the past 10 years have made money, and five of them have become “infinite”, that is, they have been able to enjoy constant support for new content.

In the past 10 years, 71% of the games launched by Paradox have been successful. These include Tyranny, Magicka 2, Victoria 3, Steel Division: Normandy 44, Surviving Mars, Prison Architect, BattleTech, and Surviving the Aftermath. Note that the recent Age of Wonders 4 has already fallen into this category.

The five titles with unlimited support are: Europa Universalis IV, Cities: Skylines, Hearts of Iron IV, Stellaris, and Crusader Kings III.

Notable commercial failures include Empire of Sin, Warlock 2, War of the Vikings, Knights of Pen & Paper 2, and Imperator: Rome.

Pillars of Eternity and the Shadowrun trilogy have arrived Breakevenbut Paradox still considers them failures because they have higher expectations.

Paradox’s prediction for the next few years is to increase the number of games with unlimited support.