Studio Paradox Interactive admits that the game had to succeed in the American market before Christmas, otherwise the company would not have had the money to pay out.
It’s almost like a thriller script from a game developer. Swedish studio Paradox Interactivewhich is now considered an icon of thoughtful strategy games, found itself on the brink of collapse at the start of the new millennium.
Their name Europe Universalis II (written in 2001) was supposed to be the salvation of the entire society. As head of development Johan Andersson said:
“I think we wrote about three pages of ideas in two or three meetings, and it was clear that we needed to get this game out quickly and sell it in the US market before Christmas or we wouldn’t be able to pay people.”
His words reflect the harsh reality of the time. The distribution network, the pre-Internet era and the need for immediate sales meant high risk. At first, the game was distributed only in Germany, and full expansion into the US market occurred later.
Despite the pressure, Paradox managed to get creative. Europe Universalis II for example, was innovatively made accessible the opportunity to play for any state powerinspired by the mod community.
So, this is one of the scenarios that depicts the often very risky life of game developers and game companies in general.
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Source : Zing
