14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Paradox Interactive says that the average play times registered on Steam for its most recent releases, Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV, are a sign that gamers derive great value from them and enjoy the freedom that they are offered.
Frederik Wester, the chief executive officer of the company, is quoted by The Escapist as saying that, “value for money is incredibly important. If you pay $40 for a game you play once and never touch again, you might not feel like that was a good value. But if you buy a game for $40 that you play for months, or even years, you're probably going to feel that you received a great value for your money and share that feeling with someone else.”
He explains that Paradox has always been a company focused on long-term growth and on the satisfaction of customers, which means that it is interested in making sure that paying for a game now will not generate regret that precludes the same gamer from buying more content at a later date.
Johan Andersson, the studio manager, believes the play times seen on the Steam digital distribution service are a testament to the amount of freedom that’s offered in both Europa Universalis IV and Crusader Kings II.
He adds, “That gamers get so engaged that they continue playing our games for hundreds of hours is of course the biggest compliment we as a game developer can ever get. I see the amount of hours players sink into our games as hard evidence that gamers want freedom.”
At the moment, Paradox Interactive is working on expansion for both grand strategy titles.
Rajas of India for CK II will expand the map to include the Indian subcontinent, will introduce war elephants to enhance warfare and will add three new religions with their own mechanics and event chains.
A major patch will also be delivered alongside the expansion, introducing free content for those who have the core game and some bug fixes.
Europa Universalis IV will get Wealth of Nations as an expansion after that, with a bigger focus on the trade mechanics, privateers that can be used to raid enemy fleets and the ability to use trade companies to dominate overseas possessions.
A new installment in the World War II themed Hearts of Iron series is also in development but is not expected to arrive until the first few months of 2015.