Paradox Development Studio

Paradox Development Studio
461px-Paradox Development Studio Logo.png
Type Privately held
Founded 1995
Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden
Products Video games
Employees 23
Parent Paradox Interactive

Paradox Development Studio is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy game series Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, and Victoria.

History

Paradox Development Studio is based on the heritage of the Swedish board game company Target Games and has been a game developer of PC-focused grand strategy games since 1995. From the start, Target Games designed board games and created the PC Game named Svea Rike, based off a board game. The company continued to create PC games and in 1999 the company was divided into two separate entities: Paradox Interactive which focused on developing grand strategy games for PC and Paradox Entertainment which focused on creating board games and role-playing games.

Paradox Interactive began to self-publish their own strategy games and quickly expanded their portfolio by publishing PC games from other development studios.

In January 2012, the company divided yet again into two companies—Paradox Interactive became the game publisher focused on PC games of varies genres and Paradox Development Studio became the game development studio focused on grand strategy games. The Stockholm-based studio Paradox Development Studio is the developers behind franchises such as Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings,[1] Hearts of Iron[2] and Victoria.

The game development studio was one of the first video game developers to coin the genre "Grand Strategy"[3] and most of the games the studio has developed falls into that category. The grand strategy games are historical strategy games that cover the entire world map and include elements such as economy, diplomacy and warfare. The games developed by Paradox Development Studio are all highly moddable and supports multiplayer for up to 32 players. Paradox Development Studio currently consists of 32 persons working on four parallel projects.The studio manager Johan Andersson has led the game development team since Target Games. Several of the studios members have a background from the modding and beta testing community; including members such as project lead Henrik Fåhraeus, project lead Thomas Johansson and game designer Chris King.

The studios latest game release Crusader Kings II is one of the highest rated games 2012 according to Metacritic.[4] The development studio is currently working on a new game named March of the Eagles [5][6] and Europa Universalis IV,[7][8] the next installment in their empire building series.

Clausewitz Engine

In 2007 the Paradox Development Studio debuted a proprietary game engine, titled Clausewitz, in Europa Universalis III and has been used in every game developed by PDS since. The engine provides a 3D view of part or the totality of the world map, depending on the played game. Sengoku was the first game utilizing the Clausewitz 2.5 engine.

List of video games

List of games developed by Paradox Development Studio[9]

  • Crusader Kings (video game)|Crusader Kings
    • Crusader Kings: Deus Vult expansion
    • Crusader Kings Complete
  • Crusader Kings II
    • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam expansion
    • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome expansion
    • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion expansion
    • Crusader Kings II: The Republic expansion
    • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods expansion
    • Crusader Kings II: sons of Abraham expansion
    • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India expansion(in development)


  • Diplomacy
  • Europa Universalis: Crown of the North]]
  • Europa Universalis
  • Europa Universalis II
    • Europa Universalis II Asian Chapters expansion
  • Europa Universalis III
    • Europa Universalis III: Napoleon's Ambition expansion
    • Europa Universalis III: In Nomine expansion
    • Europa Universalis III Complete
    • Europa Universalis III: Heir to the Throne expansion
    • Europa Universalis III: Divine Wind expansion
    • Europa Universalis III Chronicles
  • Europa Universalis IV
    • Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of paradise expansion
  • Europa Universalis: Rome
    • Europa Universalis: Rome Vae Victis expansion
    • Europa Universalis Rome Gold
  • Hearts of Iron
    • Hearts of Iron Platinum
  • Hearts of Iron II
    • Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday
    • Hearts of Iron II: Armageddon
  • Hearts of Iron Anthology
  • Hearts of Iron III
    • Hearts of Iron III: Semper Fi expansion
    • Hearts of Iron III Collection
    • Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland expansion
    • Hearts of Iron III: Their Finest Hour expansion
  • March of the Eagles
  • Sengoku
  • Two Thrones
  • Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun
    • Victoria Revolutions expansion
    • Victoria Complete
  • Victoria II

See also

External links

References

  1. Crusader Kings II Sword of Islam DLC due with next patch (retrieved on 26th June 2012)
  2. New Expansion Announced (retrieved on 26th June 2012)
  3. Paradox Past Present and Future (retrieved on August 16, 2012)
  4. The 25 Best PC Games (retrieved on August 16, 2012)
  5. Paradox Interactive & Paradox France (retrieved on 26th June 2012)
  6. RTSGuru (retrieved on 27th June 2012)
  7. Europa Universalis IV Announced - Official Company Press release (retrieved on 26th June 2012)
  8. Europa Universalis IV Announced- Official Company Press release at Gamasutra (retrieved on 26th June 2012)
  9. [1]