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Pillars of Eternity and Cities: Skylines Make Paradox Interactive Look Good

Pillars of Eternity and Cities: Skylines Make Paradox Interactive Look Good

Paradox Interactive is one of those publishers that has always just kind of been there. You know they’re around. You’ve seen their games. Some of them, like Magicka , Sword of the Stars , Mount & Blade , Europa Universalis , and Hearts of Iron , even have devoted followings. But, they’ve always been the kind of publisher that hasn’t been at the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to games. Being around for 16 years while publishing mostly small to medium-sized titles does that.

That is, until now. March 2015 did something special for Paradox Interactive. There was a one-two punch of games that I believe is going to make a huge difference for the company going forward. In case you don’t peruse Steam or make time for PC games, allow me to elucidate. March was the month of not only Cities: Skylines , but also Pillars of Eternity . Within 16 days, the publisher put out not one, but two smash hits.

These aren’t titles you can ignore. Cities: Skylines shot to the top of the Steam charts. People despondant over the SimCity situation were hungry for simulations, and Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order responded. They picked up where EA and Maxis fell short and, even better, did so at what some may to be consider a “bargain” price. Paying $29.99 for something with so much content was beyond attractive, and the sales figures have shown people responded. It was only bumped from the top position on Steam by Grand Theft Auto V and then by the second Paradox Interactive game of the month.

I’m talking about Pillars of Eternity . Its success isn’t a big surprise, when you think about it. Obsidian Entertainment was the developer and knows what it’s doing when it comes to RPGs. It raised $3,986,929 on Kickstarter. Still, its launch crept up on us. One day, everyone’s going on and on about Bloodborne , the next Pillars of Eternity is trending on Twitter and spiked to the top of the Steam sales charts (four days after launch, it’s sitting a comfortable third behind GTA V and a heavily-discounted Alien: Isolation ). It’s a second solid, quality game from a publisher that’s suddenly making the best decisions.

Pillars of Eternity and Cities: Skylines Make Paradox Interactive Look Good

March 2015 has started something for Paradox Interactive. The company has always been solid, but these two titles stand out. People are paying attention, perhaps in a way they never have before. The success is encouraging and, given how Paradox Interactive paid attention to people when it came to Cities: Skylines , one can only wait to see for more quality games.

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