#CRUSADER KINGS III THEME SIMULATOR#

But Crusader Kings 2 also represented a big departure in how Paradox developed, supported, and monetized games after release. The foundation of soap operatic, dynasty-driven drama was laid. Crusader Kings 2 changed the way Paradox approached DLC. It mirrors the types of interactions and relationships we encounter all the time as regular people. Understanding this web doesn't require any specialized knowledge of medieval succession laws or the difference between a bill and a halberd. The count next door is a jerk, so he becomes my rival. I can see a person on the screen and say, that's me. It's really because of how intuitive its portrayal of human interactions is. It's a very complex game, but I've had an easier time getting my non-strategy-game-playing friends into it even compared to something relatively simpler like Civilization. But Crusader Kings 2's character focus humanized everything. It's easy to get lost in abstractions when you're looking at provinces and regiments in these types of games.

Crusader Kings 2's lead designer, Henrik Fåhreus, stresses that characters always have been at the core of everything, and he wants to expand on that in the upcoming sequel.

The real departure from your garden-variety map-staring game was the intense focus on the characters. The idea was to deliver on some of the unrealized promises of Crusader Kings 1: strategy gameplay with RPG elements, and what Jorjani described as 'medieval Sims' features. ''Indie' back then would have been a fair assessment,' Jorjani says. By contrast, the upcoming Crusader Kings 3 has almost that many just working on writing event content. 'It was an unbelievably big success-it cost next to nothing to make, but we'd never had those sales numbers or that level of attention.'īolstered by that success, they set to work on Crusader Kings 2 with a team of eight developers. 'The reason we had the fortitude for was because we had released Magicka,' recalls Paradox's Chief Business Development Officer, Shams Jorjani. While Paradox's in-house dev team, Paradox Development Studio, toiled on, the company's publishing arm found unprecedented success in 2011 with the quirky, sorcerous action game Magicka at a time when the purse strings were tight. That promise may never have been realized without a little help from some wizards. It released three days after Rome: Total War, but it still scored very well considering everything. Then our American distributor went bankrupt, delaying the release for half a year. 'We made it in-house in 16 months with about four people. 'Crusader Kings 1 was not a big hit for us,' he recalls. Wester always hoped it would get a sequel. It was from this era that the original Crusader Kings emerged in 2004, and it was anything but a smooth launch. 'I was responsible for the customer support account until mid-2011.' When Crusader Kings 2 was made, Paradox was only about 45 people. 'People come in now and they never saw us when our theme song was 'Livin' On A Prayer,'' Wester says, referencing the Bon Jovi anthem that is still in heavy rotation when the company gets together for karaoke. He now speaks to me over the phone from his home in sunny Catalonia, far from the chilly streets of Stockholm where it all started. As a Civilization addict from Colorado, I hadn't even heard of Paradox outside a magazine ad here and there before the buzz around Crusader Kings 2 started to rise.įredrik Wester, former CEO and current Chairman of the Board, recalls that in the old days he would personally package game discs for distribution with the rest of the team to save costs.

But it wasn't globally renowned, even within strategy game circles.

#CRUSADER KINGS III THEME SIMULATOR#

And the game's legacy is writ large over what the company has become, with an annual fan convention featuring live music and hundreds of players hanging on its every word.īefore Crusader Kings 2, the studio had found modest success in its small niche with its core franchises: the Age of Discovery simulator Europa Universalis, early industrial social engineering game Victoria, and ultra-detailed World War II wargame Hearts of Iron. The success of the medieval grand strategy sandbox, renowned for generating player stories of high drama and intrigue, was a turning point for the team that I originally came to know as scrappy, indie underdogs. Fast forward to 2019, and it has swelled to nearly 500 employees and outgrown two office buildings, like a lowly count from rural Ireland who makes for himself a kingdom. In February of 2012, on the eve of the release of Crusader Kings 2, Paradox Interactive was a company of around 45 people.

Crusader kings iii theme