14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Paradox Interactive says that it has canceled four fairly advanced video game projects during 2012 and that it wants to make sure that upcoming launches have as little problems as possible.
Frederik Wester, the chief executive officer at Paradox, tells Gamespy that, “This happened after Gettysburg. We looked at them and said, ‘These games are not up to the standards we’re currently looking for at Paradox, so we’re going to close these projects’. We’re not going to have any more games that are unplayable at release.”
The executive believes that the success of titles like Magicka and Crusader Kings II means that the company has the option to outright cancel projects that it’s not satisfied with rather than launch them just to get some of the development money back.
Paradox has an expanding Quality Assurance department in order to make sure that future launches have less bugs and offer a better experience on release day.
But Wester believes that it’s impossible to eliminate all problems with a game, given the current complexity of the video game industry.
He offers as an example Diablo 3 and the problems it faced despite the huge resources that Blizzard can use to eliminate bugs from its products.
Wester adds, “It doesn’t happen overnight. Changing the quality is like changing the direction of a super tanker; it takes time. But all the effort we’ve put in over the past year and a half will be showing up now in Q1, and we’re really excited to show off what we’ve done to the public.”
Paradox Interactive is set to launch Europa Universalis IV during this year, a new installment in its flagship grand strategy series.
The company is also working on a Heart of Darkness expansion for Victoria II and on the Old Gods content for Crusader Kings II.