Paradox Interactive once encapsulated the best parts of PC gaming. As a publisher, it celebrated niches like grand strategy and had a huge hand in expanding their popularity into full-blown genres. It took risks on new developers and gave modders the chance to create full-fledged games. There were missteps and mistakes, but from both the publishing and development side the Swedes kept knocking out bangers.
Penumbra, Mount & Blade, Crusader Kings, Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, Surviving Mars, Magicka, Age of Wonders, BattleTech—its library of games includes an impressive number of all-time greats. The Paradox of 2024, though, seems to be in free fall.
