Paradox Development Studio

What Paradox Development Studio is

Paradox Development Studio is the in-house game development arm of Paradox Interactive and works from Stockholm, Sweden. Paradox Interactive's own company page states that the group's games are, among others, developed by Paradox Development Studio, which it says consists of PDS Black, PDS Gold, PDS Green, PDS Teal, PDS Purple and PDS Red in Stockholm. The same page describes Paradox Interactive as a developer and publisher of strategy and management games on PC and consoles, with headquarters on Sodermalm in Stockholm.

The studio's output sits inside a publishing group rather than standing on its own. Paradox Interactive lists itself as publishing plus five studios in five countries that develop games for more than five million monthly active users, and names franchises including Stellaris, Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, Prison Architect, the Surviving games, Age of Wonders and Victoria. The company page adds that players are located all over the world, that North America, Western Europe and Asia are among its biggest markets, and that Paradox also collaborates with multiple external studios.

Crusader Kings III

Crusader Kings III is the title in our database connected to Paradox Development Studio. A Paradox Interactive press release dated 14 May 2020 announced a release date of 1 September 2020 for the game, describing it there as a medieval grand strategy role-playing game from Paradox Development Studio with a suggested retail price of 49.99 US dollars, 41.99 pounds or 49.99 euros. A follow-up release dated 1 September 2020 confirmed that the game could be bought on Steam, the Paradox Store and other major online retailers.

The publisher's interim report for January to September 2020 gives the first commercial read on the launch. It records that at the point the review embargo lifted the game held an aggregate score of 91 out of 100 on Metacritic, the highest rating the company had received up to then, and that over 19,000 reviews on Steam and over 1,000,000 units sold followed. The report also notes that development costs were amortised on a degressive schedule over 18 months, with a third written off in the launch month, and presents the launch as evidence of the value in owning and developing the company's own franchises.

How the studio is organised

Rather than operating as one team, the development arm is split into named groups. The company page current at the time of writing lists PDS Black, PDS Gold, PDS Green, PDS Teal, PDS Purple and PDS Red, all in Stockholm. Additional Paradox studios working on the group's catalogue are named by the company as Triumph Studios in Delft, Playrion Game Studio in Paris, Iceflake Studios in Tampere and Paradox Tinto in Barcelona, alongside collaboration with several external development studios. Paradox describes these teams collectively as developing games for the company's monthly active user base.

Where it sits in the Paradox group

Paradox Development Studio is not a separate company. It is the development part of Paradox Interactive, and the games it makes are published by Paradox Interactive. The group's headquarters are on Sodermalm in Stockholm and the company has been listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market. The company page also records that Paradox owns the World of Darkness brand catalogue, a property that sits outside the strategy franchises the Stockholm development teams work on.

Our database records Crusader Kings III as the game associated with this studio, so this profile covers the studio in that role rather than the wider Paradox catalogue. The company's own pages do not list separate legal entities for the individual PDS teams, so the teams are described here as they are given on Paradox Interactive's company page and interim report.

Games

• Crusader Kings
• Crusader Kings II
• Crusader Kings II: Holy Fury
• Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
• Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
• Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
• Crusader Kings III
• Crusader Kings III: Friends & Foes
• Crusader Kings III: Northern Lords
• Crusader Kings III: Royal Court
• Crusader Kings III: Royal Edition
• Europa Universalis
• Europa Universalis II
• Europa Universalis III
• Europa Universalis IV
• Europa Universalis V
• Europa Universalis: Rome
• Hearts of Iron
• Hearts of Iron II
• Hearts of Iron III
• Hearts of Iron IV: Arms Against Tyranny
• Hearts of Iron IV: Battle for the Bosporus
• Hearts of Iron IV: By Blood Alone
• Hearts of Iron IV: Death or Dishonor
• Hearts of Iron IV: La Résistance
• Hearts of Iron IV: Man the Guns
• Hearts of Iron IV: No Step Back
• Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory
• Hearts of Iron IV: Waking the Tiger
• Imperator: Rome
• March of the Eagles
• Runemaster
• Sengoku
• Stellaris: Ancient Relics Story Pack
• Stellaris: Apocalypse
• Stellaris: Aquatics Species Pack
• Stellaris: Distant Stars Story Pack
• Stellaris: Federations
• Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack
• Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
• Stellaris: Lithoids Species Pack
• Stellaris: MegaCorp
• Stellaris: Necroids Species Pack
• Stellaris: Nemesis
• Stellaris: Overlord
• Stellaris: Plantoids Species Pack
• Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn Story Pack
• Stellaris: Utopia
• Victoria 3
• Victoria II
• Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun

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