Paradox Development Studio


Paradox Development Studio is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, Victoria and Stellaris.

History

Paradox Development Studio is based on the heritage of the Swedish board game company Target Games, and has been a game developer of PC-focused grand strategy games since 1995, including the Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, and Victoria series. The company continued to create PC games and in 1999, the company was divided into two separate entities: Paradox Interactive, which focused on creating grand strategy games for PC, and Paradox Entertainment, which focused on creating board and role-playing games.
In January 2012, the company divided yet again into two studios, becoming Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio. Paradox Interactive became the game publisher focused on PC games of various genres and Paradox Development Studio became the game development studio focused on grand strategy games.
The game development studio was one of the first video game developers to create games in the grand strategy genre, and most of the games the studio has developed fall into that category. Grand strategy games are historical strategy games that usually cover the entire world map and include elements such as economy, diplomacy and warfare.

Game engines

To date, Paradox have engineered two main proprietary game engines for their titles, Europa and Clausewitz. Both were also designed to be open to anyone who wishes to modify the original game files to create mods. As a result, games can be modded with as little as a text editor, which has led to the development of strong modding communities for each of Paradox’s games.
Paradox developed its debut game Europa Universalis in 2000, and used large chunks of its code for its next games. Although this code overlap was subsequently referred to as the Europa Engine, studio manager Johan Andersson clarified that the 'engine' had not been part of the initial designs of each of the company's first six games, and that it just resulted from copy-pasting large parts of code from one game to the next. In April 2008, Paradox allowed certain indie game developers to freely use the superseded engine as part of their Europa Engine Licensing Program. The move led to the development of games such as For the Glory, Arsenal of Democracy,, and Iron Cross.
In 2007, the studio debuted a new game engine, called Clausewitz Engine in Europa Universalis III. Named after the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, the new engine provides a 3D view of part or the totality of the world map, depending on the played game. Sengoku was the first game utilizing the Clausewitz 2 engine. The studio’s 17th game, , was also built using Clausewitz, but with the addition of new 64-bit software known as "Jomini" that allows for better 3D rendering and easier creation of mods. The newly improved engine now also features support for DirectX 11.

List of games developed

List of games developed by Paradox Development Studios. Note that in addition to this list there are two other games developed in the early 2000s when the studio was part of Paradox Entertainment, ' and Two Thrones, both part of the Svea Rike series.
NameReleasedGame EngineExpansionsExpansion release
Europa Universalis2000Europa engine
Europa Universalis II2001Europa engine
Hearts of Iron2002Europa engine
'2003Europa engineRevolutions2006
Crusader Kings2004Europa engineDeus Vult2007
Hearts of Iron II2005Europa engineDoomsday2006
Hearts of Iron II2005Europa engineArmageddon2007
Europa Universalis III2007Clausewitz EngineNapoleon's Ambition2007
Europa Universalis III2007Clausewitz EngineIn Nomine2008
Europa Universalis III2007Clausewitz EngineHeir to the Throne2009
Europa Universalis III2007Clausewitz EngineDivine Wind2010
'2008Clausewitz EngineVae Victis2008
Hearts of Iron III2009Clausewitz EngineSemper Fi2010
Hearts of Iron III2009Clausewitz EngineFor the Motherland2011
Hearts of Iron III2009Clausewitz EngineTheir Finest Hour2012
Victoria II2010Clausewitz EngineA House Divided2012
Victoria II2010Clausewitz EngineHeart of Darkness2013
Sengoku2011Clausewitz 2 Engine
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 Engine'2012
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineLegacy of Rome2012
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineSunset Invasion2012
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineThe Republic2013
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineThe Old Gods2013
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 Engine'2013
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineRajas of India2014
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineCharlemagne2014
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineWay of Life2014
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineHorse Lords2015
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineConclave2016
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineThe Reaper's Due2016
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineMonks and Mystics2017
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineJade Dragon2017
Crusader Kings II2012Clausewitz 2 EngineHoly Fury2018
March of the Eagles2013Clausewitz 2 Engine
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineConquest of Paradise2014
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineWealth of Nations2014
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineRes Publica2014
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineArt of War2014
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineEl Dorado2015
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineCommon Sense2015
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineThe Cossacks2015
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineMare Nostrum2016
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineRights of Man2016
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineMandate of Heaven2017
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineThird Rome2017
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineCradle of Civilization2017
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineRule Britannia2018
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineDharma2018
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineGolden Century2018
Europa Universalis IV2013Clausewitz 2 EngineEmperor2020
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineLeviathans2016
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineUtopia2017
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineSynthetic Dawn2017
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineApocalypse2018
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineDistant Stars2018
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineMegacorp2018
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineAncient Relics2019
Stellaris2016Clausewitz 2 EngineFederations2020
Hearts of Iron IV2016Clausewitz 2 EngineTogether for Victory2016
Hearts of Iron IV2016Clausewitz 2 EngineDeath or Dishonor2017
Hearts of Iron IV2016Clausewitz 2 EngineWaking the Tiger2018
Hearts of Iron IV2016Clausewitz 2 EngineMan the Guns2019
Hearts of Iron IV2016Clausewitz 2 EngineLa Résistance2020
'2019Clausewitz 2 Engine + JominiMagna Graecia2020
Crusader Kings III2020Clausewitz 2 Engine + Jomini