Paradox Interactive's streak of game delays continues with the news its Chinese-Room-developed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is now targeting a release in the "first half of 2025", rather than its previously announced "late 2024" window.

In a post on its website, Paradox called the delay a "proactive decision" derived from its commitment earlier this year to deliver "high-quality games" to its players. "Though [Bloodlines 2] is in a good enough place that we could have maintained our planned release window," it wrote, "Paradox and The Chinese Room collaboratively decided to prioritise polish."

Paradox says the delay will "create a quality assurance buffer, giving more time between testing and launch, ensuring we release the game when it's ready." More specifically, The Chinese Room will use the time to expand Bloodlines 2's story, providing twice as many endings as its predecessor, and to "adjust certain areas" such as Fabien - the voice in its protagonist's head.

Read more

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed yet again, pushing the troubled RPG into the first half of 2025. Publishers Paradox Interactive and developers The Chinese Room say the delay will allow them to continue to polish the game, respond to feedback, and expand on its story.

Read more

Space 4X strategy game Stellaris launched in 2016, but Paradox can't stop adding to the universe. Last time I checked in, it was school trips to other dimensions. Now, it's Cosmic Storms. Due for release alongside the Stellaris 3.13 Vela update on September 10th, these are a paid "mechanical expansion" (priced at a rather chunky £11, $13 or €13, and available as part of the current season pass) that builds upon the game's existing Space Storms, "providing a deeper experience with strategically meaningful gameplay and beautiful upgraded visuals". Wash that down with new civics, precursor narratives, anomalies, archaeology sites, techs, edicts, a new Ascension perk, and new galactic community resolutions.

Read more

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed yet again, pushing the troubled RPG into the first half of 2025. Publishers Paradox Interactive and developers The Chinese Room say the delay will allow them to continue to polish the game, respond to feedback, and expand on its story.

Read more

Space 4X strategy game Stellaris launched in 2016, but Paradox can't stop adding to the universe. Last time I checked in, it was school trips to other dimensions. Now, it's Cosmic Storms. Due for release alongside the Stellaris 3.13 Vela update on September 10th, these are a paid "mechanical expansion" (priced at a rather chunky £11, $13 or €13, and available as part of the current season pass) that builds upon the game's existing Space Storms, "providing a deeper experience with strategically meaningful gameplay and beautiful upgraded visuals". Wash that down with new civics, precursor narratives, anomalies, archaeology sites, techs, edicts, a new Ascension perk, and new galactic community resolutions.

Read more

.

Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.

Get ready to dive into a new era with Millennia Ancient Worlds, the exciting first expansion for the 4X historical strategy game from C Prompt Studios, published by Paradox Interactive. Launching on August 12, 2024, this expansion brings a fresh start for humanity, filled with unique challenges and opportunities. New Features in Millennia: Ancient Worlds:…

The post Millennia Ancient Worlds Expansion Launches August 12! appeared first on Invision Game Community.

Paradox Interactive has shared the unfortunate news that they have delayed the release of Prison Architect 2 indefinitely.

Prison Architect 2 had already been delayed a couple times, most recently aiming for 3rd September and with the announcement that the development was being handed over from original studio Double Eleven to new team at Kokku, but even that has been pulled back as they “re-assess the scope of the work needed to be done before the game is release-ready.”

There will be minimal communication about the game’s development through the coming weeks and months, until such a time that Kokku and Paradox feel ready to share something substantial.

Given the form of this delay, all pre-orders are being refunded automatically, though you will be able to request an expedited refund, as detailed in the FAQ.

It’s the latest blow to Paradox’s game line up. Cities: Skylines 2 launched last year to great dissatisfaction from players, with developer Colossal Order having now spent the better part of the year optimising the game and reworking gameplay elements. Last year’s The Lamplighters League also underperformed, and more recently, Paradox cancelled and shut down the studio behind their The Sims competitor, Life By You.

Here’s the Prison Architect 2 statement in full:

We have some difficult news to share: unfortunately, we will not release Prison Architect 2 on September 3rd because we need more time to improve both the game’s performance and its content. Our continuous internal reviews and beta test groups have highlighted areas that we need to focus on more, mainly performance and content, which we need to address before launch to ensure that you, the players, get a good experience in the game. We need to raise the quality a bit more to meet the standards we’d like to achieve with this sequel.

We are confident that the sequel to Prison Architect will be great, and we’re looking forward to showing you all the new ideas brought into it: the switch to 3D, multi-floors, and the new behavior system that all bring a new dimension to the game and open new gameplay possibilities for the players. However, we want to make sure the game lives up to the franchise’s legacy and is released in a state that satisfies both you, our players, and the Prison Architect 2 teams at Kokku and Paradox Interactive.

At this stage, we can’t commit to a new release date as we need to re-assess the scope of the work needed to be done before the game is release-ready. Over the next few months, we will focus on improving the game and building a more robust release timeline. This also means we will be limiting our communication with you all until we have a timeline we feel comfortable with.

With this indefinite delay, preorders on all platforms will be refunded, and the preorder items will be added to the base game.

This decision aligns with our commitment here at Paradox to reviewing and improving the quality of our released content. We are confident that delaying Prison Architect 2 is the best path forward for the game, allowing us more time to deliver a high-quality experience that honors the legacy of Prison Architect.

This is not the announcement we hoped to make, but it is necessary, as we believe this will result in a better game for you. Thank you for your patience, and we’ll see you again soon.

The Prison Architect 2 Team

Source: Paradox

Source

Paradox Interactive has indefinitely delayed Prison Architect 2 ahead of its initial release date this September.

In a blog post, the development team behind the sequel cited that the game needed improvement in its performance and content.

"Our continuous internal reviews and beta test groups have highlighted areas that we need to focus on more which we need to address before launch to ensure players get a good experience in the game," it wrote.

Read more

Paradox Interactive's profits have significantly dropped by 90% following the cancellation of Life By You.

The publisher released its second quarter financial results on Thursday, in which it saw profits drop to SEK 28.9 million ($2.6 million) compared to SEK 292.9 million ($27.1 million) during the same period last year.

Write-downs of development costs for Life By You amounted to SEK 208 million ($19.2 million), which are included in the operating profits.

Read more

CEO of Paradox Fredrik Wester has admitted the publisher "made the wrong calls in several projects", following the cancellation of its The Sims competitor Life By You.

The game was cancelled back in June, and the internal studio behind the project, Paradox Tectonic, was closed.

Wester commented on Life By You as part of Paradox's latest financial earnings report, stating the cancellation was a "difficult decision... as the game would not be able to meet our expectations."

Read more

Přestože oba tituly mají být spuštěny letos na podzim, ani Dragon Age: The Veilguard ani Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 nebudou na Gamescomu 2024 představeny.

Necelý měsíc před začátkem velkého evropského kongresu byl dokončen seznam vystavovatelů. Vzhledem k faktu, že se naše redakce bude Gamescomu účastnit, tak již máme přehled o tom, co na herním veletrhu bude a nebude k vidění. A již nyní můžeme potvrdit, že ani jedna ze dvou výše uvedených her nebude součástí Gamescomu 2024 a to ani za zavřenými dveřmi.

I když samotné EA bude na veletrhu přítomno, tak jejich PR zastoupení informovalo o tom, že jediná hra, která zde bude k vidění je: EA Sports FC 25 (to je tedy pecka).

Přinejmenším je to podivné a dost to připomíná situaci s KONAMI a jejich remakem Silent Hill 2, který z nějakého důvodu také vynechává Gamescom 2024, přestože do říjnového debutu zbývá jen pár týdnů.

Otázkou je, zda náhodou EA nemá v plánu hru ještě odložit nebo zda hra je natolik špatná, že by se mohla opakovat situace jako s Anthem a bojí zrušení předobjednávek. Ale abychom nebyly jen pesimističtí, tak vývojáři se dnes podělili o to, že hra „dělá dobrý pokrok“ směrem k podzimnímu vydání, a zároveň potvrdili, že je již ověřena na Steam Decku a verze pro Steam bude nativní, což znamená, že na rozdíl od jiných titulů EA nebude ke hraní vyžadovat aplikaci EA.

Další hrou v podobné situaci je Vampire od Paradox Interactive: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Problémové pokračování je stále oficiálně plánováno na 4. čtvrtletí 2024, ale Paradox zcela vynechává Gamescom, což znamená, že Bloodlines 2 nebude na Koelnmesse nikde k vidění. Zpoždění by v tomto případě nebylo nijak překvapivé, protože to, co bylo zatím ukázáno, není tak vypilované, jak bychom si přáli. Není zdaleka nepravděpodobné, že by vývojáři potřebovali před uvedením na trh více času.

I kdyby se obě hry nestihly vydat na podzim 2024, fanoušci RPG by měli v podstatě jistotu, že letos debutují dvě prestižní hry: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 od Warhorse a Avowed od Obsidianu, které budou představeny na Gamescomu a my jednu z nich zcela jistě budeme hrát.

Článek EA a Paradox neukáží na gamescomu své hry: Dragon Age: The Veilguard a Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 se nejdříve objevil na GAME PRESS.

Prison Architect 2, set to launch in September, has been indefinitely delayed, with the studio behind the game also announcing that it will refund customers who pre-ordered the prison building sim. It’s yet another road bump for publisher Paradox Interactive following the cancellation of a Sims-like game in June.

Read more...

Paradox Interactive appear from the outside to be a company run by dice roll. That was the case earlier this year when they cancelled Sims competitor Life By You and closed its developers, weeks after it had missed a project release date.

"It is clear that we have made the wrong calls in several projects, especially outside of our core, and this must change," writes CEO Fredrik Wester in an interim financial report, released today.

Read more

Paradox Interactive appear from the outside to be a company run by dice roll. That was the case earlier this year when they cancelled Sims competitor Life By You and closed its developers, weeks after it had missed a project release date.

"It is clear that we have made the wrong calls in several projects, especially outside of our core, and this must change," writes CEO Fredrik Wester in an interim financial report, released today.

Read more

Following the sudden cancellation of Paradox Interactive's ambitious Sims-like Life by You, the company has confirmed it's closing the internal studio behind the project, Paradox Tectonic.

Paradox Tectonic - the 24-person team overseen by former Sims boss and CEO of Second Life studio Linden Labs, Rod Humble - was unveiled with some fanfare back in 2019. It wasn't last March, however, that its first game, Life By You, was officially revealed.

At the time, it seemed like a solid proposition, promising Sims-like gameplay and ambitious features including an "open game world where everything is customisable" and "real language conversation". Unfortunately, the project quickly ran into trouble, missing its original September 2023 early access launch before getting hit with a succession of further delays.

Read more

Following multiple delays, Paradox Interactive has cancelled its Sim-like game, Life By You.

Announcing the cancellation last night, deputy CEO Mattias Lilja called this decision "difficult", stating it was a "clear failure on Paradox's part to meet both our own and the community's expectations".

Lilja went on to explain why the studio ultimately decided to cancel its release, rather than continuing to delay Life by You further. The exec said while "a time extension was an option", it eventually became clear "the road leading to a release that we felt confident about was far too long and uncertain".

Read more

Yesterday, we learned that Sims-like Life By You had been canceled, and its developers Paradox Tectonic had been shut down by parent company Paradox Interactive. Later the same day, game designer Willem Delventhal shared more a detailed account of his experience working on the game through to its cancellation, via LinkedIn.

Read more

Life By You, the Sims-like management game previously troubled by several delays, has been canceled by Paradox Interactive, and Californian studio Paradox Tectonic have been shut down. The news of the game’s cancellation came last night through a forum post, with Paradox deputy CEO Mattias Lilja painting a picture of a game still too “lacking” for more development time to fix. This morning, it emerged that Paradox Tectonic, the studio working on the game, have been shuttered, via GameWatcher.

Read more

Cities: Skylines 2 has found a delightfully straightforward solution to the very real-world problem of greedy landlords demanding excessive rent payments. The city-builder sequel will simply delete all its virtual leeches in its next patch, helping to bring down the cost of living in your digital metropolis.

Read more

Yesterday, we learned that Sims-like Life By You had been canceled, and its developers Paradox Tectonic had been shut down by parent company Paradox Interactive. Later the same day, game designer Willem Delventhal shared more a detailed account of his experience working on the game through to its cancellation, via LinkedIn.

Read more

Life By You, the Sims-like management game previously troubled by several delays, has been canceled by Paradox Interactive, and Californian studio Paradox Tectonic have been shut down. The news of the game’s cancellation came last night through a forum post, with Paradox deputy CEO Mattias Lilja painting a picture of a game still too “lacking” for more development time to fix. This morning, it emerged that Paradox Tectonic, the studio working on the game, have been shuttered, via GameWatcher.

Read more

Cities: Skylines 2 has found a delightfully straightforward solution to the very real-world problem of greedy landlords demanding excessive rent payments. The city-builder sequel will simply delete all its virtual leeches in its next patch, helping to bring down the cost of living in your digital metropolis.

Read more

From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, I thought: no bother, like. Everyone has different skills. Then, I realised that some other people might be less enlightened than me about the whole ‘having limits’ things, and that there was a lot of money to be made hawking implants. Enter space strategy story-spewer Stellaris, specifically, it’s spost specent spee-LC The Machine Age. It adds many options for your space civs, most of which I’m too rusty with the ever-yawpening sandbox’s myriad nuances to appreciate. But what's this? A new origin that lets you play as techno-religious corpo-cult obsessed with transcending the limits of their meat prisons through cybernetic augmentations? I recognise that from toys! Let’s do some clicking.

Read more

The neighbourhood citizens of Life By You are positioning themselves as bright-eyed pretenders to The Sims. But in this ultimate game of keeping-up-with-the-Jones, the life sim from Paradox has slipped on a wet kitchen tile. The game has been delayed for a third time, and the developers are reluctant to set a new date for the planned release into early access. "[We] believe it is more prudent to hold off while we plan ahead," said Mattias Lilja of Paradox Interactive, "rather than committing to a new date that we cannot be certain to meet."

Read more

There are management games and there are micro-management games. Prison Architect 2 is the latter. I don't mean this as an annoying thing, like when Harold from corporate starts commenting all over your document at 4.30pm on a Friday. I mean it as a distinction between those games that let you plop down a house, and others that need you to stack the bricks, install the plumbing, fit the lights, and select the wallpaper. The first Prison Architect allowed you to finesse every detail of a secure correctional facility, down to each cell and dog kennel. Unsurprisingly for a sim about prison, it encouraged obsessive control. The 3D-ified sequel isn't finished yet, but it's taking a similar approach. Maybe a little too similar.

Read more

It looks like Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two is trying to get rid of its indie label, Private Division. This is according to a new IGN report that details how the company’s recent studio closures and mismanagement have been “quietly killing” the indie publisher.

Read more...

Paradox Interactive has announced it's parting ways with Prison Architect 2 developer Double Eleven after nine years on the popular management series, saying it "could not find a commercial agreement that worked for both parties".

Double Eleven first became involved with Prison Architect after it was hired to port the game to consoles, and the studio took full control of the series when original developer Introversion Software sold the rights to Paradox in 2019. Since then, it's released ten expansions, culminating in last year's Jungle Pack, and has led development of a fully 3D sequel, Prison Architect 2.

Prison Architect 2 was unveiled in January this year, promising a "greater degree of player freedom, impactful choices, and inmate simulation". It was originally due to launch in March but has since received two delays - once into May and then to September - most recently to address "unexpected issues occuring too often" despite the game being "certified on all platforms".

Read more

Prison Architect 2 was delayed last month from a planned May release date until September. Now it's changing developer. Double Eleven are parting ways with publisher Paradox Interactive after nine years working on the series, and a new studio, Kokku, are taking over.

Read more

The director of Paradox’s grand sci-fi strategy game Stellaris has insisted that the studio’s use of any AI-generated assets will be “ethical”, after revealing that latest expansion The Machine Age features AI voices for characters and used AI-generated art and text during its development.

Read more

Colossal Order has released a new update for its city builder, Cities: Skylines 2. According to the release notes, Patch 1.1.2f1 adds support for NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution. This will greatly improve performance and image quality on the NVIDIA RTX GPUs. Now while this update only adds support for DLSS Super Resolution, PC gamers can … Continue reading Cities Skylines 2 Patch 1.1.2f1 adds official support for NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution →

The post Cities Skylines 2 Patch 1.1.2f1 adds official support for NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution appeared first on DSOGaming.

Cities Skylines 2 publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order have issued a stark apology for the state of the game and the release of its recent DLC, admitting to fans: "We let you down".

"We see and understand the disappointment," the companies behind the city sim sequel write in their joint statement - a message which repeatedly apologises for the missteps which led to Cities Skylines 2 being released in such a state, and announces that anyone who purchased the Beach Properties DLC would be refunded. Work on any future paid DLC has now been postponed indefinitely.

"We asked for your patience and support, and you've shown those," the statement reads. "In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry."

Read more

Cities Skylines 2 publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order have issued a stark apology for the state of the game and the release of its recent DLC, admitting to fans: "We let you down".

"We see and understand the disappointment," the companies behind the city sim sequel write in their joint statement - a message which repeatedly apologises for the missteps which led to Cities Skylines 2 being released in such a state, and announces that anyone who purchased the Beach Properties DLC would be refunded. Work on any future paid DLC has now been postponed indefinitely.

"We asked for your patience and support, and you've shown those," the statement reads. "In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry."

Read more

Vedle dlouhé omluvy za stav měst: Skylines 2 a nedávno vydaného DLC Beach Properties, generální ředitelka vývojářského studia Colossal Order Mariina Hallikainen a zástupce generálního ředitele společnosti Paradox Interactive Mattias Lilja prozradili, že vydání budovatelské hry pro konzole se odsouvá.

Zatímco původní plán pro verze Cities pro PS5 a Xbox Series X/S: Skylines 2 byl stanoven na jaro 2024, společnost Colossal Order nyní uvedla, že datum vydání portů nemůže slíbit. Důvodem je to, že není schopna dosáhnout potřebné úrovně optimalizace pro konzolové vydání hry.

Přesto očekává, že tento měsíc bude vědět více o pokroku, kterého dosáhla s nadcházejícím sestavením, které bude dokončeno, a následně bude sestavení pro vydání předběžně plánováno na říjen. Před vyhodnocením těchto sestavení však studio nemá v plánu slibovat datum vydání Cities: Skylines 2 na konzolích.

„Chceme se také věnovat očekávanému uvolnění na konzole. Jak víte, náš plán byl vydat zde hru na jaře tohoto roku,“ píše se v příspěvku. „Váhali jsme se sdělením skutečného termínu vydání kvůli nejistotě, které čelíme, a abychom nedávali další sliby, které bychom nemuseli být schopni dodržet. Snažili jsme se získat města: Skylines 2 na potřebnou úroveň optimalizace pro vydání na konzolích, ale nyní doufáme, že nadcházející update v dubnu prokáže dostatečný pokrok, abychom mohli pokročit s kandidátskou verzí a poté s vydáním sestavení plánovaným na říjen. Než však uvidíme a vyhodnotíme pokrok dosažený v těchto sestaveních, nebudeme moci potvrdit datum vydání, a i pak vždy zůstává určitá nejistota. Naší ambicí je poskytnout vám při spuštění zážitek, který jste si všichni zasloužili, ale bude to trvat nějakou dobu. Je důležité poznamenat, že tým pracující na konzolovém vydání funguje odděleně od našeho vývojového týmu pro PC, takže bude postupovat bez rozdělení našeho zaměření a času.“

Společnosti Colossal Order a Paradox Interactive také reagovaly na kritiku proti DLC tím, že toto rozšíření dali nakonec zdarma pro všechny nadcházející kupce a těm, kteří si jej již zakoupili, vrátili peníze a zároveň odložili všechna budoucí DLC do roku 2025.

Článek Cities: Skylines 2 nevyjde letos na jaře pro konzole, jak bylo původně plánováno se nejdříve objevil na GAME PRESS.

The makers of Cities: Skylines II have pledged to focus on fixing the base game after fans revolted against a disappointing paid DLC. The $10 Beachfront Properties pack scored a stunning 96 percent negative rating in Steam reviews and now the companies behind the urban planning sim have apologized, promised refunds…

Read more...

Enlarge / Like the Beach Properties DLC itself, this property looks a bit unfinished and in need of some focus. (credit: Paradox Interactive)

Perhaps the first clue that something was not quite right about Beach Properties, the first $10 DLC "expansion" for the already off-kilter city-building sim Cities: Skylines 2, was that it did not contain a real beach house, which one might consider a key beach property. The oversight seemed indicative of a content pack that lacked for content.

C:S2's developers and publisher now agree and have published a letter to Cities fans, in which they offer apologies, updates, and refunds. Beach Properties is now a free add-on, individual buyers will be refunded (with details at a FAQ page), and Ultimate Edition owners will receive additional Creator Packs and Radio Stations, since partial refunds are tricky across different game stores.

"We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry," reads the letter, signed by the CEOs of developer Colossal Order and publisher Paradox Interactive. "When we’ve made statements like this one before, it’s included a pledge to keep making improvements, and while we are working on these updates, they haven’t happened at a speed or magnitude that is acceptable, and it pains us that we've now lost the trust of many of you. We want to do better."

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

While Cities: Skylines 2 has made progress on the performance front, not everything about the troubled citybuilder is on the up. In fact, player reception to the recently released Beach Properties DLC has proven so un-sunny that both developers Colossal Order and publishers Paradox Interactive have issued a joint statement apologising for the state it launched in.

The letter, addressed to Cities fans and signed by Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen and Paradox Interactive deputy CEO Mattias Lilja, also promises refunds for anyone who bought Beach Properties. Or, in the case of those who got it through snapping up Skylines 2’s Ultimate Edition, compensation in the form of three Creator Packs and three radio stations. The contentious DLC is also going free to anyone who’s yet to put money down.

Read more

Six months is a long time. In that half-year you could fully grow a patch of delicious strawberries, plant the seeds, then grow another. Or you could squirm through three and a half successive Liz Truss premierships. Or, as Cities: Skylines 2 developers Colossal Order have done, you could take the technical mess of your long-awaited citybuilding game and reconstruct it into something that performs... okay, not well, but better.

Read more

The "biggest regret" of the developer behind Cities: Skylines 2 is the game's ongoing lack of modding support, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen has said.

Writing in the studio's latest developer diary, posted on publisher Paradox Interactive's forum, Hallikainen also detailed the changes Colossal is now looking into based on player feedback.

The city-builder sequel released in October last year on PC and was immediately criticised by players for its performance issues and, yes, missing official mod support. In response to fan complaints the game's launch had been a "mess" and a "disaster", Hallikainen admitted Colossal would "much rather be in a different position than we are in the moment, but we cannot change the past".

Read more

If you were to buy every Stellaris expansion and content pack separately at full price, it would run you £227.62. To make that perhaps a little less daunting, Paradox have launched an optional monthly subscription service that gives you access to all the expansions. They've done this for several of their other grand strategy games before. It starts at £8.50 for one month then offers discounts for longer terms. While I can see niche uses for the option, I certainly wouldn't want to pay for this regularly. Would you?

Read more

Paradox Interactive has announced a two-month delay for Prison Architect 2, with the management sim sequel now set to release on 7th May as developer Double Eleven opts for "extra time to identify more bugs and further optimise the game".

Prison Architect 2 - the sequel to the hugely popular 2015 original from developer Introversion Software (who sold the rights to Paradox in 2019) - was announced back in January, promising a take on the prison management formula reimagined in full 3D.

There was talk of some rather nifty looking multi-floor building, and a new connection system defining and impacting the relationships prisoners had with other inmates. All of that was originally due to launch for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 26th March, but eager sorts will now need to wait until May following today's delay.

Read more