"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. 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.
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