Paradox rolls back recent price hikes. Wester steps up

A few days ago we mentioned the price hikes that were happening with Paradox Games and now Paradox CEO Frederik Wester has revisited the issue.

The plan now is to roll back recent pricing changes and reimburse funds where they can or offer games in exceeding the difference. Wester was also keen to point out that some of the conspiracy theories surrounding this price increase “below the level of intelligence” of the Paradox community.

If there’s one thing that makes Paradox a great publisher is they always listen to feedback and that means a lot in today’s current climate. Wester’s full response is as follows:

1. In regards to the price changes you are absolutely right. You deserve more transparency and better communication from Paradox when it comes to changing of our prices and pricing policy. Therefore I have decided to roll back all price changes made; any price changes will have to be for future products well communicated in advance. I just came off the phone with Steam and they say we can’t do the roll-back before the Summer Sale is over (otherwise it would mean we have to take all Paradox products off the summer sale) but it will be done right after. For anyone who bought any of the games during this time (including during the summer sale) we will try to refund (if possible in the Steam platform) or reimburse with games of a value exceeding the difference. If none of this is possible (I do not in detail know the limits to the Steam platform) we will internally calculate the difference in revenue before and after the price change, double the value, and donate the money to the UNHCR.

2. Some of the frustration has been expressed due to our DLC policy and how we handle additional content for our games. Since the release of Crusader Kings 2 (Feb 14, 2012) we have adopted a policy where we release paid content and at the same time content for free even if you do not want to pay for the DLC. This means that if you only paid for the original game, you still have a completely different game today with thousands of additions, upgrades and changes. This doesn’t mean you should stop giving us feedback on how we conduct our business but if you straight out just hate our DLC policy I respectfully say that we have to agree to disagree.

3. I have promised myself never to give in to mob mentality; it’s one of the worst things I know and a terrible way to convince me. In fact, being a pig-headed CEO of a company that has grown from 7 people to 225 during time I have had the privilege to run it, I have probably from time to time been more prone to say “no” than “yes” when people gang up on me/us to make us change our minds – I guess partly by principle not to cave in due to pressure. In this case, my change of stance has been made from communicating with people who have been active in our community for 10+ years, people who spent thousands of hours in our games and coming to the conclusions you find above.

Finally – as much as I love a good conspiracy theory; to be frank, the whole “Tencent bought 5% of Paradox and now they’re all greedy” and “They’re now a publicly traded company and therefore do things the market wish for” is below the level of intelligence of this community. I still hold 33.3% in Paradox, I am still CEO, board member and avid gamer. All you need to know is that the buck stops here. All problems/feedback can easily be sent my way, I will not always agree but I promise to listen.