paradox-connect posts

The fantasy free-to-play MMO RTS game Dreamlords, announced and first launched several years ago, now has a new life. Today the game was officially relaunched as Dreamlords Resurrection by developer Lockpick Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive. Paradox announced that it would be taking over the game's publishing duties back in August 2010. To celebrate the re-launch of the game, Paradox is offering all new players 1,000 in-game Paradox Ducats that are valued at $10. The ducats can be used to purchase in game items or to add enhancements for your player character.

This game is actually the first of a series of free-to-play game titles planned for release by Paradox as it seeks to expand beyond its strategy game niche. Dreamlords Resurrection will also use Paradox Connect which will let players gain achievements and use other community features.

The long-in-development fantasy MMORTS game Dreamlords Resurrection is now finally getting close to its official launch. This week the game entered what it is calling its final closed beta event. You may remember that a few months ago the game's development team secured a publishing deal with Paradox Interactive as part of the company's Paradox Connect online division.

If you get picked to be in the beta all of your achievements and "heroic deeds" will continue over when the game officially launches. There's also some special holiday themed PvE missions in the beta that will give users some special rewards through January 2.

Earlier this year, Paradox Interactive announced plans to launch Paradox Connect, a new venture which will link future games from the PC publisher with scores and Paradox Achievements. Today the company revealed that the first game that will support Paradox Achievements will be the Europa Universalis III Divine Wind expansion pack that's due for release tomorrow.

You can see the many achievement badges that can be won and displayed in the game by the player if he or she decides to sign up with a Paradox Connect account and rack up the many achievements that are included in the expansion. The achievements are included in a player's Paradox Connect score and can be displayed in multiplayer matches.

[Via email press release]

One of the most popular collectible card games is getting an online PC game makeover. Paradox Interactive announced today that it will be publishing a game based on Mutant Chronicles Doomtrooper. The collectible card game is a spin-off of the Mutant Chronicles sci-fi themed pen-and-paper RPG series.

Paradox Interactive secured the rights to the game from its current owners Paradox Entertainment. Of course, Paradox Interactive was once a part of Paradox Entertainment before being spun off into a separate company a number of years ago. Other than the fact that this new game will be part of the company's online Paradox Connect service details of the Mutant Chronicles Doomtrooper game have yet to be revealed.

Earlier this week we reported that the stalled fantasy RTS MMO game Dreamlords seemed to be getting new life as the game's official web reported a new publishing deal with Paradox Interactive. Now Paradox has officially announced its involvement in the free-to-play game with the official title Dreamlords Resurrection.

Paradox states that the game will be the first title under its new Paradox Connect brand which will cover all of the publisher's online efforts. The game will feature both cooperative Player Vs Environment battles along with Player Vs Player matches. There's still no word yet on when Dreamlords Resurrection will officially launch. This is apparently the first of three free-to-play games that Paradox plans to release in the coming months.

Earlier this week we reported on a new study that claims that the free-to-play PC game business will boom up to $2 billion in revenues by 2015. A publisher with deep PC games ties that wants in on that business is Paradox Interactive. In a new interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester states, "We're releasing three new free-to-play games next year."

And what kinds of games will they be? We know that one of them will be Dreamlords Resurrection, the long-in-development online RTS game. But Wester is also hinting at something else in the works, saying, "It's gonna be very cryptic. It's a type of gameplay that we've never touched before. And it's a type of gameplay that's completely different from what a computer game typically offers." A full announcement will be made later this month.

While other PC game developers and publishers have either moved partly or completely into console game development, Paradox Interactive has still concentrated most of its efforts in making and releasing PC games. In the company's newly launched blog page The Wester Front Paradox's CEO Fredrik Wester states, "What I find most exciting is that more and more people consider PC the gaming machine of the future."

Wester believes the PC gaming industry has several advantages including being able to connect with other PC gamers, more control over pricing and more control over providing updates and expansions. As far as sales, he states " ... we have never sold more games than we did in 2009, and we'll sell even more in 2010." Wester add, "I guess if you look into the future we'll see even more people focusing on PC gaming. Paradox will still be there, making games that PC gamers want to play."

A little while ago, Paradox Interactive hinted about its plans for something called "Paradox Connect". This week at Gamescom the publisher revealed more details about that project which is designed to give fans of Paradox's games more social networking features.

In short, players of Paradox's games will be able to set up their own username and password that will be linked to the games they play. Achievements will be Incorporated into Paradox's games. Gaining more achievements adds points to a Paradox Connect's players score. Those achievements and scores can also be shown on a player's Facebook or Twitter account. This system is designed to be completely voluntary for the player to join with Paradox stating, "We won't force users to register or to have a persistent online connection." There is no word on when Paradox Connect will launch.

Update: In a new press release Paradox states that Paradox Connect will start beta testing in the fourth quarter of this year.

Publisher Paradox Interactive may be branching out into console games of late but the company is still primarily a publisher of PC exclusive games. However the company has to fight off piracy of its titles. In a new interview with Gamasutra. Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester hinted about a new plan that will give Paradox's fans some extras.

He states, "We're not really a pro-DRM company. We skip DRM for almost all of our titles, so instead we're giving something extra to the people who can prove they actually bought the game. I think that's the best way of fighting piracy." That "something extra" is a program that Wester is giving a working name of Paradox Connect. He states, "I can't say too much about it because we're going to announce it later, but it's going to allow extra services for the people who actually buy our games." He says he hopes to launch the beta in August but adds, "you know how it is with development. It might be Q1 next year."