DRM News

Paradox Interactive is best known for its Hearts of Iron and Europa Universalis series of games, both deep historical strategy games and this is an area where Paradox shines. When I have described the Hearts of Iron series to people its very easy to do, it’s Axis & Allies on crack. It is as addicting too, ‘just one more turn’ turns into an all night affair. If you are a strategy gamer and you haven’t picked up a Paradox game, you are definitely missing out.

Paradox is a company of gamers who are in the business of making games, not businessmen running a game company. This shows up in the amount of interaction they have with their fans. This is one of the things that sets Paradox apart from other game companies; the time they spend on their own forums.

Recently the Paradox forums passed their 200,000 user mark and to celebrate they offered discounts, had contests to win free games and an ‘Ask Paradox (almost) anything’ thread. In fact even though the 200k celebration is over, they are still answering questions, and it seems they intend to keep this as an active thread. While I never asked for an interview in the thread itself, I did see it as an opportunity to approach them and see if we could grab an interview. Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox, was kind enough to answer our questions.

How long has Paradox been making games, and what was the first game released?

FW: We have been around since 1999, the first game released under the Paradox name was Europa Universalis however the same team released the Svea Rike series under the company name Target Games.

When did you come into the picture and how did that come about? When did you become CEO?

FW: I came to Paradox in 2003, worked with business development for a few years before being appointed Executive VP in 2007. One of the projects I started was GamersGate back in 2006. I became CEO in April 2009.

Are there any other former death metal drummers out there as CEOs? And, how did THAT transition happen?

FW: I played drums for 11 years when I was younger, and the only two music styles I really tried was jazz and heavy metal. I was asked to join a death metal band and even if it’s not my kind of music it is great to play drums in a death metal band. I haven’t played for many years now, but occasionally I play drums in Band Hero at the office.

Are you an active gamer yourself?

FW: Yes, I play many different kinds of games, including our own titles. Since a long time I’m a football manager addict and have also played the Elders Scrolls games a lot.

What prompted the AGEOD purchase?

FW: It was good timing for both companies. Ageod was in need of a sales and marketing channel and we are always looking for good content so it was a perfect match.

Do you see a higher percentage of sales in the digital distribution or retail market? Do you see a near future where Paradox would go 100% digital?

FW: We will not go 100% digital anytime soon, but 2010 will probably be the year when we earn more revenue from digital than from traditional retail channels. Partly this is due to some of our games (like recently released Lead & Gold) will only be available for download.

What led to Paradox splitting off GamersGate? Are they now two completely separate entities?

FW: To us it was important to separate the retail (GamersGate) from publishing (Paradox Interactive). From GamersGate point of view, they needed to be able to tell partners they are doing an equally good job for everyone, and from Paradox point of view we wanted full flexibility on who to work with on digital sales.

What are your thoughts on second hand sales and the used video game market?

FW: I think used game sales are ok; the customer bought a game from us and should be free to sell it to someone else if they want.

What are your thoughts on DRM as a whole?

FW: I do not believe in DRM as a method of fighting piracy. Our way of fighting piracy is trying to give more value to people who actually bought the game. We are working on a few projects at the moment that will hopefully be appreciated by our gamers.

Paradox has typically released games with no DRM added. Is that due more to a lack of concern about piracy, or are you more focused on selling the product to potential customers?

FW: Our idea is that installing the game for someone who actually paid for the product shouldn’t be harder than installing the pirate version. DRM also costs a lot in technical support.

Some Paradox published titles were released last year with Stardock’s GOO DRM system being used on most versions (East India Company and Majesty 2). How has that worked out? Is this a sign of things to come on all future releases as well?

FW: We tried GOO as more of a service to the gamers, with a centralized patching engine etc; however we need to think through how we are going to handle patches and versions more in detail in the future.

Do you feel there is any relation between piracy rates and the use of harsher forms of DRM?

FW: Yes. Piracy is growing and publishers are trying to find ways to fight it.

With Ubisoft, EA and Blizzard all releasing single player games that require constant Internet connections, do you feel that this is where PC gaming is heading in the future? Or will the difficulties (like what Ubisoft is experiencing with their system) and costs associated with such a system keep such an option limited to big publishers? Do you think that eventually even they will move away from it?

FW: I think more and more games will have an online component, not necessarily to fight piracy but because being online gives more opportunities to the gameplay.

What are your thoughts on permanently online gaming systems like OnLive?

FW: I love the idea and I really hope it will work.

Where has Paradox seen the largest sales growth in the last year (geographically)? What do you credit that to?

FW: We have grown in all territories, mostly due to digital distribution.

Do you find that the active communication with your fans through your forums has helped Paradox grow? Do you think that this is something the larger publishers are missing out on?

FW: Communicating directly with the fans has been a cornerstone for Paradox since the release of Europa Universalis in 2000 and I think more publishers could win from communicating directly. It takes time from the team, but it is worth it in the end.

Victoria 2 and the Heir to the Throne expansion for Europa Universalis 3 were put into production based on fan polling and feedback. Is this something you are going to continue to do?

FW: I think so. This is of course dependent upon how the products perform. So far Heir to the Throne has done well; I am also convinced Victoria 2 will get good sales, there is a stable foundation of Victoria fans out there.

Famously you’ve said that if Victoria 2 makes a profit, you are going to shave your head. Will this be video taped at the office and released to the forums? Have any other CEOs made such an offer based on product sales that you are aware of?

FW: I am unaware of other CEOs making this type of bet. When this happens, we will of course share it with the fans.

Hearts of Iron 3 had some serious issues at release. What sort of lessons have you learned from that moving forward?

FW: I think the project was a bit overambitious. We added a lot of features that weren’t polished on release and that could have been added later as patches or expansions.

Paradox has traditionally been an historical strategy game publisher, but you’ve recently put out a shooter (Lead & Gold) and have an Action RPG (Magicka) and a Tactical RTS title (Lionheart : King’s Crusade) on the way. What spurred on this growth in to other genres and, in the case of Lead & Gold and Magicka, in to the console realm for the first time? Are there other genres you would like to see Paradox involved in?

FW: Lead & Gold was a shortcut for us into the console realm and that was a major reason for signing it. We are growing by signing great games, and are not as bound to genres as we have been in the past, but of course we will continue to focus on our core base of historical strategy.

How do you decide which games from outside developers you would be interested in publishing?

FW: We have a team internally that are testing games coming in. We check the quality and potential of the title and typically decide together if it should be published by us or not.

Stalin vs. Martians. How did that enter the picture? Did you lose a bet?

FW: I am not actually that into betting, but SvM looked very promising from the art and the concept. The game didn’t turn out great, and I am the one to blame for signing it. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Where do you hope to see Paradox in 5 years? And what is new and exciting just around the corner?

FW: I think we are continuing to grow both as a publisher and developer, and in a few years you will see bigger and better games from us. Just around the corner are our first steps into console and if we manage this without any major pitfalls, who knows what can happen?

The answer on how they fight piracy is really interesting, adding value to a product instead of adding DRM. This is actually quite smart. Not only does providing more value for purchased products without DRM make things easier for consumers, it can also increase sales.

Paradox is a growing company and right now the future looks pretty good for them, expanding into new genres and growing as a publisher. This is one company to keep an eye on, if you haven’t been already.