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'Project Postman' is War of the Roses, a medieval multiplayer melee actioner
"The focus initially is gonna be on the PC," Paradox Interactive senior producer Gordon Van Dyke told me in an interview last week about the next title from Lead & Gold devs Fatshark. "Project Postman," now known as War of the Roses, was announced earlier this year by Paradox head Fredrik Wester as a "dream game" for the collaborators, but we knew little else about it. That is, until this afternoon at Gamescom, where the Swedish publisher unveiled the melee-based title. "Absolutely, it's being thought of as a franchise," Van Dyke continued, though he's not yet sure how that will play out in terms of branding. "We've been looking into franchise names. It's actually really hard to find a name that has anything to do with combat in video games." As the name implies, the game set between 1455 and 1485 -- during the "War of the Roses" era in England -- though it's not necessarily steeped in Medieval politics. Instead, it focuses on the regular battles between English houses jockeying for control of the kingdom. %Gallery-130828%
Magicka sales near 800K, Vietnam expansion a financial success
Last we heard, Paradox Interactive's publishing deal for Magicka with Arrowhead Games was working out pretty well. This morning, just after a GDC Europe presentation by the niche Swedish publishing house, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester further added to the game's history of financial success, when he told me that the title has now sold nearly 800,000 units. "It's gonna pass that [sales milestone] in the next week, week after or so," Wester said. "We're still doing between five and seven thousand a week, so it's a great sales number." He also added that Paradox hopes to pass the one million sales mark by the end of 2011 -- a major achievement for a small team like Arrowhead. As for the much-loved Vietnam expansion, I wondered if it had achieved the same success that both Paradox and Arrowhead had hoped for. "It's done a few hundred thousand, so the attachment rate is really high," Wester explained. With those kinds of numbers, it's clear why Paradox is interested in fostering and furthering the relationship with Arrowhead. Back in May, Wester told me that sequels for Magicka are a lock.
Ex-Battlefield lead Gordon Van Dyke joins Paradox Interactive as senior producer
After exiting the dev battlefield of DICE back in 2010, Gordon Van Dyke recently left his second EA gig at Visceral Games in favor of a different Swedish game company: Paradox Interactive. Before wild accusations start flying, know that his reason for leaving was rather heartwarming. "During my time back in California [with Visceral], I married my girlfriend from Sweden and we had a baby. We decided it was best to raise her in Sweden," Van Dyke told Joystiq this afternoon. In the process of moving, a friend of Paradox CEO Fred Wester put he and Gordon in contact. The rest is Swedish history. "I got an email from a friend introducing me to Gordon. Two days later he was hired," Wester explained of his rapid hiring process. Van Dyke, unsurprisingly, had nothing but nice things to say about his new employer, explaining that the studio "offers me more room to explore, take risk, and work on creative niche IPs."
'Project Postman' is a 'dream game' for Paradox and Fatshark
As recently as 2008, Paradox Interactive was only able to sign on for the projects it could afford to pay for at the time, rather than looking at what was best for the publisher and what fit with its goals. "Just three years ago ... we signed whatever we could afford," CEO Fredrik Wester told me in a recent interview. "Now, we actually make the games we wanna make." And why not boast? Wester's privately owned publishing outfit has been growing steadily since opening in 1998. "We grew 50 percent in gross revenue last year," he added. "And another 60 to 70 percent this year is the plan." Those are high hopes, but with Magicka's continued success and plans for what Wester calls a "dream game" with Fatshark, he may actually realize them.
Magicka sequel planned, first game and Vietnam expansion sold 'over expectations'
Arrowhead Studios' first game, Magicka, has been a runaway success. Publisher Paradox Interactive told Joystiq in a recent interview that the game "sold over 30,000 copies in the first 24 hours," and the five dollar Vietnam-themed expansion has moved "well over 100,000" copies since launching in mid-April. Even at just $5, that's plenty of extra ducats. Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester also confirmed a Magicka sequel on the books, though the folks at Arrowhead are still hard at work on the first game's PvP, set for a free release in the near future. "When we -- and I'm not saying 'if' -- but 'when' we are doing a sequel to this game, it's going to be done on a totally different technology," Wester explained, airing some of his company's grievances with Magicka's game engine, XNA Studios. "It was super buggy at release," he added, speaking to Magicka's less-than-perfect state at launch. "We addressed most of them in the first week, but there are still issues with laptops and a few other things. It's due to the engine that we produced the game on." As for the oft-requested console version of Magicka, Wester and his company are taking an all-or-nothing approach at this point. "We wanna do XBLA or nothing for the Xbox," Wester matter-of-factly stated when asked about the possibility of the game still heading to Xbox Live Indie Games. Beyond it being a smaller marketplace, he noted, "We looked into that, but it was not as simple as it seemed at first." PlayStation Network, thankfully, is an easier task. "PSN should be a no brainer, and I'm saying should because ... I can't really say anything more at the moment," he coyly added, noting, "I'll let you know as soon as I can say more." ESRB listings discovered earlier this year certainly indicate that something is in the cards.
Paradox CEO outs Fatshark's next project, codenamed 'Project Postman'
Fatshark's next game is "primarily a PC title to begin with," Paradox CEO (and head of snappy haircuts) Fredrik Wester told me in a recent interview at Joystiq's NYC offices. "We're doing a new game with them at the moment, which is also multiplayer-focused," Wester added. "Project Postman" is the working title for a game currently in development at Fatshark, with Paradox signed on as publisher. "We'll see about consoles," Wester skittishly noted. As you might imagine, his company is a bit wary of confirming console games that may or may not ever arrive, given past experiences. Without going into details about the game itself, Wester did reveal that the title would be "announced later this year," though he specifically pointed out that it won't be a big E3 announcement. "I think we're actually waiting for summer, or maybe GamesCom in Germany where we have more stuff to show." He also said that the unnamed game would likely have a trailer by the time GamesCom happens in August. As for why his studio names its projects after Kevin Costner films ... that's less logical. But in a good way. Head past the break for the hilarious roots of Paradox's strange tradition.
April Fools: Paradox expands Vietnam theme to King Arthur series
Magicka's Vietnam-themed DLC has apparently been a huge hit with the folks at Paradox Interactive. Such a hit, in fact, that the company is now theming the upcoming King Arthur sequel in the same way -- nothing quite says "Knights of the Round Table" like napalm! Furthermore, the sequel to Sword of the Stars will receive similar treatment. "A wise journeyman once told me, 'Don't stop believing,' and that's exactly what we're doing here," company head Fredrik Wester noted in the announcement. Okay, okay, the folks at Paradox are just having a laugh on this day of days to have a laugh, but you'll excuse us if we stand fully in support of the idea. Heck, it sounds like a much better idea than the publisher's East India Company game themed around the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Who greenlights this stuff?!
XBLA Lead and Gold isn't happening, says Paradox CEO
In a recent conversation with Paradox Interactive's Fredrik Wester, the CEO told Joystiq that while he'd like Lead and Gold to shoot up Xbox Live Arcade, in addition to PSN and Steam, he doesn't think it's going to happen. "It seems like we have to put it on the backburner," Wester said. "We're not really putting any more effort into releasing on XBLA, so I would say if you want to play the game, you should do it on PC or PSN, because we're not really sure that we can ever release it on XBLA. Or that we're ever gonna release it on XBLA. It's unfortunate, but you know, things happen. We love XBLA and would love to be on it, but with Lead and Gold, we just have to move on." And that's unfortunate, as Wester (no, not Wesker) said DLC is in the pipe for L&G, and early issues with lag in the game have been amended. He's also excited for the next console release that Paradox has planned: Magicka. "When I first played it, I was like, 'Shit, this is a great game!' So we put more effort into it and we're gonna make it into a really good project," Wester told us. While the game is built using XNA and intended for an XBLA release, Wester's not sure where it'll end up (though he offers up the XBL Indie Marketplace as another possible destination). Wester also teased something new coming from Paradox -- Paradox Connect -- a service he recently talked about with Gamasutra. While he wouldn't get too specific, he did tell us, "Steam has a few elements which Paradox Connect is gonna have as well, and a few other services do as well. Stuff that gives the players more options to connect with each other and gain bonuses online." So, it's DRM then? "The first thing people said was 'Oh! It's DRM! It's DRM!' And I'm like 'Come on, people! It's not DRM.'," Wester corrected us, laughing.
Paradox CEO greenlights expected failure, bets hair it won't be profitable
Paradox Interactive CEO Fredrik Wester announced last month that he would shave his head if the company's Victoria 2 actually turned a profit -- he appears to have a full head of hair, so it's not like he was being ironic. Gamasutra caught up with the executive to ask why he would greenlight a title he expected to fail. Wester expressed that the community's passion and Paradox's internal studio convinced him to acquiesce. If the game fails to turn a profit, however, he gets to choose the next game the team develops.Wester sees the situation as a win either way, saying, "Either I get to keep my hair, or I get a profitable game." As Wester owns 49 percent of the company stock and the employees own the rest, it gives him the liberty to do this type of stuff. We do wish more CEOs would be forced to have a personal stake in a company's success and bear some "scarlet letter" for failure. Example: A Midway board meeting would look like a THX 1138 cosplay convention.
