Paradox Interactive Addresses Recent Game Cancellations and Delays: Higher Player Expectations and Shifting Landscape
Following setbacks including the cancellation of Life By You and the troubled launch of Cities: Skylines 2, Paradox Interactive has outlined its revised approach to game development and release.
CEO Mattias Lilja and CCO Henrik Fahraeus acknowledged heightened player expectations and decreased tolerance for post-launch bug fixes. The disastrous Cities: Skylines 2 launch underscored this shift, prompting a commitment to more rigorous quality assurance. They emphasized the need for broader pre-release player testing to gather crucial feedback. Fahraeus stated regarding Cities: Skylines 2, "If we could have brought players in to try it on a larger scale, that would have helped," highlighting a future aim for increased player interaction before launch.
The indefinite delay of Prison Architect 2 exemplifies this new strategy. While acknowledging positive gameplay, Lilja cited technical challenges as the primary reason for the delay, stating, "We had quality issues, which means to give the players the game they deserve, we decided to delay it." He differentiated this from the Life By You cancellation, attributing the delay to difficulties in maintaining the desired development pace and encountering unexpectedly challenging technical issues.
Lilja further explained that some problems proved "harder to fix than we thought," emphasizing the importance of thorough peer reviews and user testing. He clarified that Prison Architect 2's issues are primarily technical, not design-related, focusing on achieving a stable, high-quality release.
Lilja highlighted the increasingly competitive gaming market, where players are quicker to abandon games, particularly in the last two years. This observation, drawn from Paradox's own experiences and market trends, underscores the urgency of delivering polished, bug-free products.
The Cities: Skylines 2 launch prompted a joint apology and a "fan feedback summit" in response to significant player backlash. The game's first DLC was also delayed due to performance issues. The Life By You cancellation resulted from a determination that the game couldn't meet the standards of Paradox and its players, with Lilja acknowledging a lack of full understanding of certain development challenges.
