Paradox CEO admits company made “wrong calls in several projects” in wake of Life By You’s cancellation

Paradox Interactive seems to operate like a company governed by chance. This was evident earlier this year when they decided to cancel Life By You, a competitor to The Sims, and shut down its developers shortly after missing a project deadline.

“It is evident that we have made the wrong decisions in several projects, especially those outside our core focus, and this needs to change,” stated CEO Fredrik Wester in an interim financial report released today.

“We conclude the second quarter of the year with mixed emotions. While our core business has performed well, we had to make the tough choice to cancel the release of Life by You due to the game not meeting our expectations,” Wester mentioned in the mid-year report.

With a write-down of development costs amounting to 208 million kronor (approximately £14.9 million) for Life By You, the operating profit in Q2 2024 dropped 90% year-on-year. Despite this, Paradox Interactive still managed to turn a profit thanks to the success of their “core games,” such as new expansions for Stellaris, Victoria 3, and Europa Universalis IV.

Wester explained that the company has “implemented significant changes in how we invest in risky projects, ensuring that we have not initiated new projects with the same high risk and high costs as Life by You” since 2021.

Life By You is not the only problematic project that Paradox has dealt with in recent times. Cities: Skylines 2 faced issues at launch, Lamplighters League was a costly failure, Bloodlines 2 has been stuck in development limbo, and Prison Architect 2 experienced delays and studio changes.

Wester tries to find a positive note in the challenging quarter by highlighting that their in-house developed core games continue to provide enjoyable content for players. However, the streak of bad luck seems hard to ignore.