The Bumpy Road of Paradox: From Epic RPG Fails to Strategy Royalty

Throwback to the Early Days

Before Paradox became the undisputed monarch of grand strategy games, they were kicking the tires on a whole bunch of other genres, including a little RPG inspired by the legendary Baldur’s Gate. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t exactly a shining beacon of success. In fact, it was more like a lighthouse – full of bugs, many and diverse, some of which were arguably more entertaining than the actual gameplay!

In a rather amusing confession during an interview, Johan Andersson, the head honcho at Paradox, took a stroll down memory lane and pointed out one of their earliest blunders: “If you want to laugh, Google Valhalla Chronicles!” Yep, that was the game that earned the infamous comment about bugs outshining fun. It’s almost like someone said, “Hey, let’s create a game that’s a little bit of an adventure… except with a side of hilarious glitches!”

One Epic Fail After Another

Back in the day, when Paradox was still sorting out what it wanted to be when it grew up, they juggled a bunch of different games, with a team that was smaller than your average backyard barbecue crew – just five or six people! From 1999 to 2009, they cranked out approximately 20 games. And while they tried their hands at various genres, let’s be real: it was pretty clear that strategy was where they started to shine.

It turns out, it wasn’t until the grand ol’ Europa Universalis III that Paradox really figured out, “Hey, we’re actually a grand strategy studio!” Imagine the lightbulb moment, complete with confetti and probably a lot of relieved sighs from the team. From that point on, they decided to park the RPG buses and focus on what they do best—grand strategy, where you can splash your favorite color across real-world maps like a kid with a box of crayons!

And thank the gaming gods for that! Today, we can’t even fathom Paradox dabbling in RPGs with their current lineup, especially the wildly entertaining Crusader Kings. I mean, who needs fictional narratives when your game is 100% about your character’s often ridiculous legacy? Just the sheer comedy that those games produce is something no writer could dream up!