Paradox Interactive Acquires Strategy Developer AGEOD

[Rafiki]

I guess we will have to start registering games to ask questions and all the other crap that you deal with at paradox.You bunch of sellouts.
oops....now that this is a paradox forum I might get banned for such statements.

To reiterate:

AGEOD will continue to operate as a self-run partner studio, with its own line of products based on the AGE-engine and its own development team

I have no problem understanding the skeptics and pessimists, but they shall only have to wait and see if their worst fears are realized (whatever they may be). I don't share those fears, and I consider myself to know at least as much as any of them

Personally, I consider calling the Phils "sellouts" to be incorrect and also more than a bit rude; you're entitled to your opinions, but keep in mind that there are good ways of expressing them and there are bad ways to do so

So vonRocko, don't expect to have to register games anytime soon, nor will you get banned for complaining about having to have to register your games, if you were going to have to do so. There. All better now?

[gchristie]

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still”

~Lao Tzu

Wishing our mighty friends at AGEOD all the best in this new venture!

[Yurtoman]

It´s not a good news for me...Paradox´s better game is Europa Universallis II. Ageod did very good work within Paradox. It´s my personal opinion.

Sorry for my english.

[Anguille]

Bon ben...assez surpris...j'espère que la distribution continuera comme maintenant et que l'on aura pas droit aux systèmes de protection que Paradox installe désormais sur les jeux qu'ils vendent (sauf les leurs).

Bonne chance

PS: essayez de les convaincre d'acheter Magitech (petite boîte canadienne)...leurs jeux sont graphiquement médiocres mais absolument géniaux dans leur concept.

J'imagine une combinaison Ageod/Magitech/Paradox assez détonante!

[Sol Invictus]

It should be a comfortable fit. I like Paradox very much as well as AGEOD since they both create quality historical strategy games. Congratulations AGEODians.

[Franciscus]

A practical and somewhat defining question: what will be the future of Calvinus's games ? They are not exactly Ageod's games, but more a partnership. Will WW1 gold still be released by Paradox ? Any chance for a Great Invasions II ?
Or will Calvinus be a first Paradox "victim" ??

[Gresbeck]

And history tells us that in gaming business (and in other business, as well), the rule when a company is acquired by other, is that she sooner or later loses her identity. Let's hope this will be an exception
The real question is who will be making decisions about development, release dates and support. The first real test will be VGN and Victoria. I am afraid that VGN might well be "slightly delayed"...
Regards...and Merry Christmas to all.

+ 1

I don't know about Paradox Games quality. I only remember that having Paradox as publisher was not such a good deal for Madminute games, and that the agreement between Paradox and Battlefront to publish CMSF didn't work so well. And after all, competition is lessened, which is never good.

[Jarkko]

Do Paradox DRM?

Nope. EU1 and then EU2 initially required a cd in the driver, but that was patched out, and there have been no DRM's since.

However, you do not get access to technical support or access to bug-reporting if you do not register your game. Personally I don't understand why somebody wouldn't want to register their legally purchased game (espcially if they have technical problems; you don't get tech service for any other comemrical software either unless you have proof of ownership), but it seems to be a major pain for some people who claim they have bought their game legally but are definitively not going to show any proof of that what so ever; each to their own of course, even though that is a rather mystifying stance in my opinion (then again, I register my boardgames too, an old habit from the 80's when that was practically the only way to recieve errata to rules ).

No having to pay for mini-expansions every few months to get the whole game?

Dunno what is a few months. EU:Rome got its first (and so far only) expansion 8 months after release (for a comparison, EU:Rome recently got its latest free patch, 19 months after release). EU3 has had in all three expansions in 35 months since release. The games are quite playable without any expansions, although after one has played the games with expansions it's like playing a totally different game (so it's not just some new cosmetics or new areas or such crap, as we've learned to expect from some other companies), so not sure if that fulfills the "whole game" criteria.

[Luis de Aveiro]

My first thought is to congratulate both companies in what will be (I hope) a good synergy.
Nevertheless I sincerely hope that this doesn't block the production of some titles such as Great Invasions 2 and a Pax Romana 2.

[gunnergoz]

Unfortunately, my experience with Paradox products and the firm has been very, very negative over a number of years and games. I am very disappointed in this development. It will probably conclude my interest in further game purchases from AGEOD since I cannot help but feel that over time, the Paradox philosophy and style of game design will infuse this organization also, which will be a terrible shame. Good luck to you all and thanks for what you have done until now.

[Nial]

Ouch.....I will hope for the best. But I have dire feelings about this. Most times when good little companies are gobbled up by big ones, they disapear along with their unique way of doing things.

Anyway. Good luck

[arsan]

Congratulations to AGEOD and Paradox!
Hope the move will have good results for both companies!

For the people unhappy about this... Given the current global crisis we are living through... i can certainly think in much worse future scenarios for a small and struggling company like AGEOD than this:

“AGEOD will continue to operate as a self-run partner studio, with its own line of products based on the AGE-engine and its own development team while Paradox will assist with our publishing resources and networks"
and this
We have played and enjoyed AGEOD’s titles for years and greatly respect what they have achieved as a development studio. We see this acquisition as an opportunity to make AGEOD’s titles accessible to a wider audience on the global market

Can't you??

Hope this agreement will allow us to enjoy AGEOD future games for many years to come!

Cheers!

[Cat Lord]

Je pense que c'est la meilleure nouvelle que j'ai lu depuis un moment...

Cat

[razorbackjac]

I hope it works out but I don't trust paradox. You guys here are super but at the paradox forums site, its a whole different story.

The way you guys patched and worked and worked to get WW1 up to speed was very professional to say the least. But Ive never had that feeling with paradox. Sorry but thats how I feel about them.

[tagwyn]

Pocus: God Bless you and Keep you. I'll always be on your side and support you. Good luck. I hope this doesn't mean you will follow the awful HOI3 example. Larry

[vaalen]

This is actually good news. I have been a customer of Paradox starting with their very first game, when they were a small developer whose games were published by Strategy First.

The same people are the decision makers at Paradox now as when they started. And these are good people, people who love historical games, not soulless corporate suits. Johan, their top guy, spends a lot of time on the forums, because they really care about their base. And Johan has responded to my concerns many times, and has actually fixed the problem.

If they are not as friendly as they used to be, it is because they have been savagely and unfairly attacked on their forums over the years, and this has had an effect.

Yes, there have been problems, often severe problems with their games, but they usually fix them , even if it takes patch after patch. One of the reasons they have these problems is the enormous scope of their games, usually covering the entire world.

At this point, HOI 3 is unplayable for me because of the wretched AI, even after 3 patches. But they will fix it. They always do.

Rather than calling Phillippe a "sell out", he should be congradulated for taking steps to keep AGEOD games coming to us for years to come.

I an very excited about this purchase.

[TheDoctorKing]

I have worked with Paradox and played their games and I agree with the previous poster. They are people who care about making good games - they don't always succeed but who does? Their core group of people seem professional and they do patch their games a whole bunch. This business of selling expansions by the score is a little annoying, but you can play the game by itself. I still prefer HOI2 and EUII to their replacements, though.

It is not necessarily bad news for AGEOD to be associated with Paradox. Maybe it will make Paradox better instead of AGEOD worse. Let's approach the future without too much prejudice.

[caranorn]

It is not necessarily bad news for AGEOD to be associated with Paradox. Maybe it will make Paradox better instead of AGEOD worse. Let's approach the future without too much prejudice.

I'm slowly coming to grips with the news. And yes, that's a good way to look at things. Maybe the people from Ageod can remind the people from Paradox how great they and their games used to be. Add to that the potential of more customers for Ageod and this could be a win-win situation...

[Pocus]

We hope so

[Anguille]

What about DRM? Paradox has started to use DRMs on the games they sell (not their own)...

Also, will we still be able to order directly from AGEOD (boxed version)?

Cheers

[PhilThib]

Technically, the way we do our games and sell them should not change.

BTW, at the moment, it is no longer possible to buy boxed versions from the website, because of technical reasons with our network provider. You can always email me and I can find ways to help you in such a case.

The question of making boxed versions for future games will mostly depend on how many distribution agreements get signed, so this shall be decided later on, but IF there is a boxed version, then it can be available :

[Anguille]

Technically, the way we do our games and sell them should not change.

BTW, at the moment, it is no longer possible to buy boxed versions from the website, because of technical reasons with our network provider. You can always email me and I can find ways to help you in such a case.

The question of making boxed versions for future games will mostly depend on how many distribution agreements get signed, so this shall be decided later on, but IF there is a boxed version, then it can be available :

Good...

I hope you continue to sell box versions cos i don't buy online games...

Cheers

[Rafiki]

I hope you continue to sell box versions cos i don't buy online games...

If you don't mind me asking, why not? Perhaps there are ways we can address the concerns you have?

[Anguille]

If you don't mind me asking, why not? Perhaps there are ways we can address the concerns you have?

Well, maybe i am an "oldie" but i like to have my box, my manual and be able to reinstall the game whenever i want. I don't mind pdf manuals though. What i don't want for sure, it's some sort of Steam contract where i have to go online to reinstall the game. If, by buying my game online, i get the full installer which i can then "burn" on a dvd as a save and that i can reinstall the game from my documents whenever i like without going online, then maybe...i'd still miss my box but i guess it could be ok.

Now...the only online game i bought so far is Children of the Nile complete because it was only available online (i have the original game on disc).

Cheers

PS: please go to A-ha's headquarters and tell them not to split...

[Palpat]

A practical and somewhat defining question: what will be the future of Calvinus's games ? They are not exactly Ageod's games, but more a partnership. Will WW1 gold still be released by Paradox ? Any chance for a Great Invasions II ?
Or will Calvinus be a first Paradox "victim" ??

I second this question.

[Gresbeck]

D'un autre je me demande s'il n'y a pas des conflits d'intérêts du genre concurrence entre deux jeux (exemple Victoria 2 et VGN).

An official statement about VGN development and distribution would be appreciated. I've some concerns reading about RoP (scheduled for 1st quarter, which seems later than I expected) without any reference to VGN.

[Comtedemeighan]

I'm pretty sure on the RoP forum the developers already said the game wasn't gonna be released for Christmas this was before the Paradox aqcuisition announcement.

[Comtedemeighan]

Gresbeck look here

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=15738&page=2

Post 43 a week ago

[Rafiki]

Well, maybe i am an "oldie" but i like to have my box, my manual and be able to reinstall the game whenever i want. I don't mind pdf manuals though. What i don't want for sure, it's some sort of Steam contract where i have to go online to reinstall the game. If, by buying my game online, i get the full installer which i can then "burn" on a dvd as a save and that i can reinstall the game from my documents whenever i like without going online, then maybe...i'd still miss my box but i guess it could be ok.

There is nothing in what you write here that I disagree with

When you buy downloadable AGEOD games, you do get the full installer. In fact, we recommend that people make a backup copy of their game(s) containing the installer(s), the serial key(s) and the latest patch(es), just to make sure they can continue to play the games they have bought should something happen to the original installer/installation

PS: please go to A-ha's headquarters and tell them not to split...

Hehe, I doubt I have much influence over them, even if I grew up and still live close to where Magne Futruholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy grew up and even had Paul's sister as English teacher in junior high school

[Gresbeck]

Gressbeck look here

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=15738&page=2

Post 43 a week ago

Well, literally speaking, "after Christmas", "end of January", "1st quarter" may have the same meaning; but when I read "end of January" I hope for a end of January / mid February release; when I read 1st quarter, I think about a March / April release. In any case, my main concern is about VGN.