I'm just curious how that division works. Wikipedia and Quora are vague about the definition, basically saying that it means there's a lot of money thrown in the development. I'm curious if any of the P'dox flagships fall under that definition.
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I would not say so, a Ubisoft game may involve 500 people working on it. On a Paradox game, it is not more than 40, even if you count quite liberally (people not 100% working on the project)
There isn't really any formal definition of what double or triple-A games are. However, I think it's clear that none of the games paradox makes can be considered triple-A. Maybe if paradox pooled all its resources together to make one game it might be considered triple-A but that might be a stretch.
They don't count as triple A. Triple A games typically have huge resources invested at every stage of the development, elaborate design for world and characters, famous voice actors, produced music scores, cutting edge graphics, big marketing budgets, and they depend on mass market appeal, strong margins on high volume sales to recoup the massive costs.
Archetypal Paradox games are just really good niche games that focus on the things specifically that the Paradox gaming community - and ONLY the Paradox gaming community, really - values: very complex and deep gameplay with heavily refined mechanics that usually develop for years beyond release, while being fairly frugal in other areas of development. There are some exceptions where they develop games that go for broader appeal.
Archetypal Paradox games are just really good niche games that focus on the things specifically that the Paradox gaming community - and ONLY the Paradox gaming community, really - values: very complex and deep gameplay with heavily refined mechanics that usually develop for years beyond release, while being fairly frugal in other areas of development. There are some exceptions where they develop games that go for broader appeal.
I had this discussion with some heretic friends some days ago, the joke was on them, as some PDX games have sell more games than some AAA titles. So, with less people working on their games, PDX have accomplished more.
As the company its expanding, maybe they will have bigger teams working on their games....but, i hope that the company do not lose its core values and spirit, like so many others.
As the company its expanding, maybe they will have bigger teams working on their games....but, i hope that the company do not lose its core values and spirit, like so many others.
imo Stellaris had enough presence around the internet to be AAA, the rest no.
The A, AA, AAA system is super arbitrary though, given that it was created and defined in a vastly different era of Video Games than now, so everything has to be taken with a grain of salt.
The A, AA, AAA system is super arbitrary though, given that it was created and defined in a vastly different era of Video Games than now, so everything has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Don't know what would be considered AAA but paradox don't put all resources into a single very expensive game with huge marketing budget that need to sell really well or it is literally game over for the company. So if by AAA mean such game, I would not say that paradox make triple AAA games.
From what I have heard, game development suffer from diminishing returns with the increase of workforce. Twice as large workforce on a single project don't translate to twice as good game or twice as quick progress so it is more likely that paradox makes more games in parallell than a few larger ones. Smaller but less risky projects seems to be the way to go and any success can be capitalized on with DLC and expansions.
From what I have heard, game development suffer from diminishing returns with the increase of workforce. Twice as large workforce on a single project don't translate to twice as good game or twice as quick progress so it is more likely that paradox makes more games in parallell than a few larger ones. Smaller but less risky projects seems to be the way to go and any success can be capitalized on with DLC and expansions.
They absolutely are AAA! Just because the scale of CODs and BFs was so bloated it burst this year, it does not mean that PDX games aren’t AAA. They are niche, but not even THAT niche. Check the number of people employed by the company, check the company’s earnings, check how popular their games are. Check how many outside franchise cakes they have dipped their fingers in. It’s like asking if Hearthstone is AAA. There is no doubt, even though the zygote was supposedly privately nurtured by Blizzard’s higher up old guard. PDX has a different business strat than say Bethesda, and in my opinion, from money-making perspective is overall better in the long.
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I think triple A just means a large company that regularly makes high quality and good looking games. So yes even if they don't have as many employees as others they're still triple A.
The style of game they chose just happens to require fewer high quality models but when you look at the broader picture of paradox and their publishing they're making games on par with other triple A companies and publishers.
The style of game they chose just happens to require fewer high quality models but when you look at the broader picture of paradox and their publishing they're making games on par with other triple A companies and publishers.
Ambition, manpower, and budget for the project are probably the biggest factors to me in determining AAA status.
I think if you're eating Hearthstone as a AAA game, you might need to up your threshold. They may be made by a major game studio, but if the grading scale is like AAA/A/B/C/D/F (to borrow schoolyard terminology), Hearthstone's like a...B at most, and a C more probably, because of the extremely limited size and ambitions of the game. I would put PDX at an A under that ranking system, despite their small manpower, owing to scope and scale of development.
Bear in mind all these terms are pretty meaningless without definitions anyway, but that's my take.
I think if you're eating Hearthstone as a AAA game, you might need to up your threshold. They may be made by a major game studio, but if the grading scale is like AAA/A/B/C/D/F (to borrow schoolyard terminology), Hearthstone's like a...B at most, and a C more probably, because of the extremely limited size and ambitions of the game. I would put PDX at an A under that ranking system, despite their small manpower, owing to scope and scale of development.
Bear in mind all these terms are pretty meaningless without definitions anyway, but that's my take.
I don't think you realise the manpower and money behind Hearthstone. Don't underestimate it just because it's not an FPS. Look at the countless similar card games that have failed. Many were put together competently, but their makers did not have the resources, including the franchise power that Blizzard has at their disposal and made full use of. Not necessarily for the game itself, but for the brand, the advertising, including Blizzcon. They brute forced it into esports. The infrastructure, including things like customer service, was prepared for a blockbuster success. You could say that they had established Blizzcon before they made Hearthstone, even so, they do use it to strengthen Hearthstone's brand. By the way, how many other companies have their very own convention? Ohh wait Paradox is one of 'em! They have a team of lawyers on standby, do you think that they wouldn't deploy them for anything related to Hearthstone, just because it's supposed to be a cheaper production than WOW? Do you think that the studio that had produced FLT had even a half, a quarter even, of these resources after their wildly successful Kickstarter?
Paradox isn't a triple aaa studio because they don't make games that are going to appeal to a wide enough audience , find your typical gamer and try to explain hoi4 division comps, Victoria 2 economics or eu4s trade system to them.
Even complex triple a games like xcom or civ 6 have nothing on paradoxes titles.
Even complex triple a games like xcom or civ 6 have nothing on paradoxes titles.
There is more complexity and deep in picking 5 heroes in Dota game than any PDX system.