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

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Fans of the RPG genre have been waiting for years for an Elder Scrolls 6, but Bethesda prefers to work on remasters. Luckily, the developers of Questline will soon release a new title – and it’s like a dark Skyrim with strong graphics.

What kind of game is this? It is Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, a dark RPG. You take on the role of a hero and start in a world inspired by the Arthurian legend – you create your own hero. Just like in Skyrim, you can follow the main or side quests, explore dungeons, strengthen your character, and discover the world of Avalon.

In addition to exploring, fans can also dive into extensive build crafting and try different combinations to excel in combat. However, the game does not make you wait years for a release, as you can get started with the 1.0 version on May 23, 2025.

You can find the gameplay trailer for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon here:

Over 50-70 hours of gameplay, 200 side quests, and more

What does Tainted Grail offer? When Tainted Grail launches and the final release version 1.0 is published, you can expect the following:

• Access to the full game, including 3 huge areas to explore
• Approximately 50-70 hours of gameplay, depending on the exploration type
• A main story quest with up to 100 different endings
• Over 200 side quests
• Over 250 unique NPCs
• Over 400 unique weapons (including shields)
• Over 55 spells and 14 soul dice
• Over 75 dungeons
• Over 100 unique enemies and variants of them

While the main quest of Skyrim couldn’t convince every fan and offered only a single ending possibility, Tainted Grail boasts up to 100 different endings, depending on the choices you make. This is intended to provide high replay value.

You can also skip it and collect achievements, complete side quests, or simply explore the world of Avalon – you have the choice.

How much does the game cost? The game will cost €43.99 at release. Additionally, players can purchase some purely optional cosmetic content, like horse armor, for about €9.99. However, these are not necessary.

Which platforms will get Tainted Grail? The game is already available for pre-order on Steam and is also set to release on Xbox and PS5. You can already play the demo.

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Is there a catch? Those hoping for a full German voiceover will be disappointed. The game will be released only with an English voiceover – subtitles, menus, and descriptions will be available in German and other languages. Another RPG is currently interesting on Steam: In summer, a brutal new action RPG from China is set to release, and desperate players are asking, “Can you devs chill for once?”

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A game has finally made its way to Steam six months after release to the excitement of many players. But the joy is short-lived and significantly lowers the game’s rating. Fans are now warning potential new players.

Which game is being talked about? It is the game Infinity Nikki by Infold Games, which combines jump ‘n’ run, dress-up, and RPG elements in an open world. The game already surpassed 20 million downloads a week after its release (via TheGamer) and has now also been available on Steam since April 28, 2025, six months later. However, it now only has a “mixed” rating (56% of the 2,294 user reviews are positive).

The surprise is that it is primarily the most loyal players, who have been playing since the release, who are voicing their criticism. Because they have all witnessed what puts Infinity Nikki in a much worse light: the good old monetization. But now it seems that the developer has taken this to another level, and unfortunately, it has not gone unnoticed.

Here you can see the trailer for Infinity Nikki:

Longtime fans are unsure if they want to continue playing Infinity Nikki

What exactly are the players criticizing? Along with the release on Steam, Infinity Nikki’s latest patch 1.5 brought some monetization changes that are not sitting well with existing players at all. Judging by the reviews, many of them are aware that Infinity Nikki employs very prominent gacha elements, allowing a lot of real money to flow into the game. This has been the case since the release, but now it seems the developer has taken this system too far.

Players who wanted to invest very little or no real money in Infinity Nikki have always had a harder time completing outfits. The number of collectible parts for a complete outfit has now been further increased, resulting in even more pulls being needed on average. This is alarming for potential future monetization updates. Because this makes the outfits correspondingly more expensive and the game increasingly difficult for budget-conscious players. (via PC Gamer)

What are players saying in the Steam reviews?

• Emiix comments: “The greed of the companies has become too great. I know many gacha games that struggle with power creep and such, but only 6 months after launch? (…) In its current state, this game is simply not worth your time, let alone your money.”
• Phantomille says: “I’m not usually a person who plays gacha games, but I was willing to accept the system because there was a lot to do in the game and the monetization at launch was not overly aggressive. But to promote an exciting system, make it seem like a way for non-monetized progress/sustainability, and then turn around to exploit dedicated players? (…) That is really disgusting, to the point that I have to question whether I want to continue playing Infinity Nikki.”
• B writes: “They added a bathtub for $10. For that price, it better drown my enemies.”

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The monetization of gacha elements is off-putting for many gamers, and with good reason. Even players who engage with these systems are regularly surprised by the prices of some in-game content. Here too, Infinity Nikki has already caused outrage: Players are outraged because the most expensive dress in Infinity Nikki still has issues

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