As a seasoned tactical game enthusiast with decades of gaming under my belt, I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment upon hearing Paradox Interactive’s decision to not challenge XCOM’s throne. I remember the days when Paradox was a trailblazer in the strategy genre, and now it seems they’ve become content with being a loyal subject.
According to statements made by Paradox Interactive’s management team, which includes Deputy President Mattias Lilja, it seems they have no plans to challenge the XCOM series’ dominance in the tactical game genre at this time.
It’s clear that The Lamplighters League, created by Harebrained Schemes, didn’t live up to expectations for many, including Paradox. This recent strategic game release hasn’t garnered much fanfare and when it comes to ratings among current tactical games, it doesn’t rank particularly high.
Tactical King XCOM
Instead, Lilja highlights another crucial issue. He underscores that when evaluating a venture’s success through “business analysis,” one should consider the potential of the title within its specific market context: can it aim to dominate or at least rank among the top few (leader, second, third, fourth, or fifth) in its category? Additionally, will this position be maintainable over time?
In terms of strategic or tactical video games, it’s evident that there are only a handful of successful titles out there, with XCOM being one of the most notable. This is according to Lilja’s perspective, who asserts that this game stands alone as the only effective contender in the tactical market. Other games of the genre struggle to make a mark due to their moderate reviews and lack of a substantial player base. Consequently, companies like Paradox found little reason to invest in such games.
Indeed, Harebrained Schemes chose to carry on their journey within the chosen genre, leading them to make the decision to split into two entities. This was hinted at by Lilja during a previous interview.
XCOM 2 dominates the market of turn-based tactical games.
In another perspective, this might appear as an effort to clean up Paradox’s image following the flop of The Lamplighters League. However, it holds some truth because, despite numerous turn-based tactical games being released, none have managed to surpass the success that XCOM2 achieved in its genre.
Despite being eight years since the final expansion for XCOM 2 by Firaxis Games was released on Steam, it continues to be actively played by around 4000 to 6000 concurrent players. On the other hand, The Lamplighters Lights, even at its peak, never surpassed four digits in player count, much like many games within its genre.
For quite some time now, even well-known and recently released titles such as Battletech, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters, Expeditions: Rome, or Wizards’ Tactical Breach have struggled to attract players in the same numbers as the second XCOM game. In fact, not a single one of these games has managed to match the impressive player base of over 133 thousand Steam users that the second part of Firaxis’ XCOM series amassed nearly nine years ago, despite some of them being backed by established brands.
Paradox and smarter risk
It seems that the same challenge cropped up for other fresh ventures as well. We hypothesized earlier that perhaps Paradox Interactive became overly optimistic, leading them to invest in new genres with the aim of broadening their publishing catalog.
The problem was that the competition in these markets was fierce. Life By You was terminated because, as Lilja explained, the title would struggle against The Sims 4. Similarly, Millennia didn’t challenge Civilization’s dominance, although Paradox’s deputy president views the project more favorably and anticipates more rivalry from Firaxis Games. However, he noted that the company is not yet equipped to compete with the established and skilled developers of Sid Meier’s Civilization 7.
This statement doesn’t imply that Paradox is entirely renouncing experimentation, rather, it underscores the necessity for the company to exercise greater intelligence when assuming such risks. Similarly, the company is not planning to discard its teams simply due to their initial game’s dissatisfaction with the publisher.
As a gamer, I’m always on the hunt for fresh and intriguing gaming experiences beyond the initial title. Dabbling in the unknown can be thrilling, but it requires strategic risk-taking. After all, it’s the bold moves that lead us to the most captivating adventures.
In essence, it involves focusing more on initial stages of a project, involving smaller groups. This way, potential problems can be spotted early on, helping to prevent expensive project terminations, as exemplified by the case of Life By You.
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2024-10-15 14:32