The studio Paradox Interactive has been the best address for strategy games for 20 years. Currently, the Swedes have 5 outstanding strategy games in the top lists on Steam: Hearts of Iron IV, Crusader Kings 3, Europa Universalis V, Stellaris, and Victoria 3. But as a credible insider report shows, the company is now facing problems. With the removal of a generous remote work policy, employee morale is declining.
What games is Paradox known for? Paradox is known for historical games in the sub-genre “Grand Strategy.” In Paradox’s games, one can build vast empires and relive history:
Their currently most successful game is Hearts of Iron IV, a paradise for modders, which still achieves 62,000 concurrent players at peak on Steam, even 9 years after its release.
The mix of role-playing and strategy game Crusader Kings 3 is popular as a story generator and has a loyal fanbase that is obsessed with one topic.
Their sci-fi epic Stellaris is beloved and has now reached cult status.
But now the studio apparently has problems.
Paradox abolishes remote work, refuses to engage in discussions
What problems does the studio have? As a report on GameDeveloper shows, the studio is currently struggling with employee satisfaction.
The magazine reports, citing anonymous sources at Paradox, that the studio in Stockholm shifted to a restrictive remote work policy during the Corona pandemic:
- Developers could work 3 days a week in the studio and 2 days from home
- But from February 2025, they should be back in the office 4 days a week
- From September 2025, remote work will be completely over, and they should be in the office 5 days a week
Employees react with discontent to office requirement
This is how it was received: According to the report, the management’s decision was poorly received, and in the call where the decision was communicated, there was a strong negative emoji reaction.
Many employees have come to appreciate flexible working in remote work in recent years and have adjusted their lives accordingly. During the Zoom call, there was a flood of negative emotions when the manager spoke. In contrast, those who raised doubts about the policy or asked questions were supported in the chat with positive emojis.
But the company would not engage in any discussion and ordered employees back to the office, stating that they needed more productivity and contact with each other.
The reference to studies showing that remote work increases productivity was dismissed. What applies to other companies does not necessarily have to apply to Paradox.
This is what the company says: In a statement to GameDeveloper, Deputy CEO Mattias Lija said that working in the office is expected to be the norm, and they expect employees to generally adhere to this.
However, those hired outside of Stockholm can remain where they are. The office requirement does not apply to them.
At least, the company offers some flexibility and says that individual rules can be found for certain employees depending on circumstances and is willing to renegotiate if Paradox feels negative consequences.
One in five is reportedly looking for a new job
This is the result: According to the report, the decision of the company’s management has had an extremely negative impact on the morale of employees.
The union conducted a survey among employees and received about 300 responses from staff across the various sub-studios. According to the survey:
- 34% of respondents say the new policy makes it more likely that they will look for a new job
- 20% of respondents are already looking for a new job
According to Game Developer, all employees they spoke with appeared frustrated, particularly regarding Paradox’s argument that the office requirement increases productivity.
From their perspective, the new office requirement does not result in improved productivity. There is now a complete lack of motivation to improve:
- If the results improve now, that would mean management was right
- If performance worsens, that means management was wrong, but in the worst case, one could then lose their job, which is bad in the current job market
Moreover, there are rumors that Paradox has offered to exempt key employees from the office requirement, but this was denied by management.
What impact does this have for players? It will depend on how Paradox handles the situation. We have seen in some major studios that a group of dissatisfied employees has gathered around a charismatic leader and left the studio to establish a new studio that operates in a more family-like way, often in the same city.
Especially during the Corona pandemic, this has happened more frequently, although not much has come from these studios yet, as most are still in development. So we don’t know whether this will ultimately be a good development for players or not:
- Ghostcrawler left Riot Games to develop his own MMORPG
- Mike Morhaime left Blizzard to develop games on a smaller scale
- Ben Brode left Blizzard and created a hit with Marvel Snap
- Harold Ryan left Bungie and founded “Probably Monsters” directly in Seattle, but only the massive flop Concord has come out so far
A mass exodus of experienced employees would certainly be the worst-case scenario for Paradox, as it would mean losing their top talents to competitors and competing with them for talent and attention in the future.
Why is Paradox struggling so much? Despite the success of Paradox’s strategy games and the consistent monetization through DLCs, Paradox as a publisher has had several flops, including financial failures like City Skylines 2 and Lamplighter League. Additionally, a number of projects have been canceled, such as the recent Life by You. The new game from the strategy geniuses in Sweden cost 28 million euros but is still a “huge disappointment” for the publisher
