Paradox has been having a rough time recently, with a series of poor financial decisions having left the company in a position they would prefer not to be in. According to Fredrik Wester  these decisions manifested as the “wrong calls in several projects,” especially following the cancellation of Life By You, a Sims competitor that was canceled in June, and took its internal sub studio Paradox Tectonic down with it. It’s sadly something that’s been happening a lot, as companies face the collapse of the bubble the industry has been enjoying since the quarantine. As the industry struggles to stay afloat, many people are finding themselves thrown overboard to make that a reality.

Some of the other decisions plaguing Paradox include the disappointing release of Cities: Skylines 2 and its disastrous, rushed DLC which was eventually refunded, the troubled development of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, The Lamplighters League’s commercial disappointment, and the numerous delays that affected Prison Architect 2 and resulted in Paradox and Double Eleven parting ways.

Life By You was designed specifically to be Paradox’s response to the Sims, arguably the most established brand associated with a genre. After it’s cancellation one of the developers released a statement on LinkedIn commenting on both the game’s status, or lack of status, and Paradox Tectonic’s closing. According to that post, the cancellation came at a bit of a shock to the developers working on it. That cancellation seems to have major effects on Paradox’s finances for this year. According to Eurogamer, the cancellation led to a 90 percent decrease in operating profit for the last quarter for the company. Based on Wester’s comments on the overall decision, it’s clear these consequences have been felt. However, Wester still remains confident that the core of Paradox will pull through. Their core four of highly complex, nation based, historical sims: Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Victoria, and Hearts of Iron, continue to form a strong center of Paradox’s company strategy. DLC for these games are pumped out at a relatively high frequency while a new game is added to the series next in the rotation. Hopefully Paradox’s wheel of history keeps turning and keeps their company afloat.