Gaming and Tech Network

On the 20th January 2011 Paradox Interactive held their press conference in New York and announced that since they started back in 2003 they have had a 1000% increase in their revenue. Whilst this doesn’t mean much in terms of turnover without actual numbers it does show how rapidly their company is growing and expanding. Incredible stuff as they mainly focus on the genres not normally touched by mainstream developers including simulation games and strategies with in depth historical accuracy.

Paradox Connect:

A new push by Paradox Interactive is going to see a lot of free to play games being released and as such they are developing ‘Paradox Connect’ which will be a central hub where gamers will be able to access all of their free to play games.  Sounds exciting and it clearly shows that they investing in an area which has over the past couple of years seen more developers investing in.

Looking for a free to play game?

The first game to utilise this new hub will be Dreamlords Ressurection which is a RTS/MMORPG hybrid featuring PVE, PVP and Co-op.  The game is currently in a closed beta with release to the public promised soon.

There seems to be a hybrid theme here with Paradox as they announced another game in development by Radioactive Games.  Gettysburg: Armoured Warfare is an RTS/FPS Warfare set in an alternate universe featuring persistent armies on a massive scale.  Exciting stuff.

How about playing the upcoming free to play MMO, Salem, which sees you stepping off a boat in Boston to fend for yourself in the mythical version of ‘New England’.  Sounds good although it probably sounds like almost every other MMO pitch out there until you hear that once you die in the game that’s it for your character.  The idea being that, much like real life, once you’re gone everyone can pillage your belongings and creations.  With the emphasis on a player-driven world promoting crafting skills it sounds very similar to Wurm Online and as such it will be interesting to see how different it is upon release, due this year.

Game Designer/Creative Director Bjorn Johannessen can be seen in the video below talking about the game courtesy of PC Gamer.

The development of a hub for free to play games and the announcement of three so far clearly shows Paradox are investing heavily in the free to play industry.  The most interesting thing to look out for in my opinion is what will fund these games; micro-transactions or by paying monthly to have access to extra features in the games.

Raiding the seven seas:

Paradox also have a real time strategy in development called Pirates of the Black Cove which has a pirate theme.  The game will see you plundering across the Carribean recruiting infamous pirates and finding settlements to raid with your ultimate goal of becoming the King of pirates.  To add a further twist developers Nitro Games are also having action-RPG elements appear in the game.  Paradox really do love to spice things up don’t they?

Playing your cards right:

You’d have thought Paradox would have had enough in development with they free to play games and an RTS but they have also ventured into yet another niche announcing a free to play digital card game.  Hearts of Iron: The Card Game is the latest game in the Hearts of Iron series and will see players able to take on the role of either an Allied or Axis tank commander and will use the cards to destroy their opponents.  Alongside the main game a trading and deck management system will be implemented.

It’s an interesting niche of the market for Paradox to enter and currently the largest card game of this type is Magic The Gathering Online which you can see more information here on that as John has been looking further into that game.

I think overall Paradox Interactive have a fantastic line up of games in development and their continuing success means we won’t be seeing the last of these niche games anytime soon.

AJ