The Business of Video Games - The Paradox Podcast

Welcome back to the special episode of the Paradox Podcast!

Today one of our co-hosts, Daniel Goldberg discusses the circumstances of his departure from our company with Shams Jorjani!

We talk about what happens when a senior level manager leaves and what impact – good and bad – is felt in the company.

0:15 – Intro
1:58 – What we’ve been playing
11:36 - What happens when a high-level executive leaves the company?
15:57 - How do you hand over the leadership role?
21:46 – Is there anything to worry about or hope for?
28:11 – How is the “Lame Duck” period like for the departing executive?
29:36 – Daniel’s goodbyes and what’s next for the podcast?

You can also find today’s episode on: 
• Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu​
• iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo​
• Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl​
• Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw​
• Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome​

The Paradox Podcast is now back in a bi-weekly schedule! Join us in 2 weeks to meet Shams’ new co-host!

Welcome to the Paradox Podcast! Paradox Interactive podcast about the business of video games where try to explain why we do the stuff we do.

Today, Shams and Daniel are joined by our CFO Alexander Bricca, to discuss the dreaded subject of being a Publicly Traded company. You’ll learn how it’s like to have shareholders, why we decided to become a listed company & what it means in the first place.

Shams also gets an internship offer. Enjoy! 

Timestamps: 

0:15 - Introduction
2:59 – What we’ve been playing
6:45 – Subject of the day: What’s it like to be Publicly Traded?
8:01 – What does the CFO do?
12:22 – What does being a listed company mean for Paradox?
22:01 – Why would PDX want to be publicly traded?
25:28 – What happened when Paradox became listed?
32:02 – How have shareholders impacted Paradox?
34:36 – Myths about being a publicly traded company.
39:53 – What have we told the market about our future releases?
43:17 – What does being publicly traded mean for PDX employees?
46:20 – Wrapping up

You can also find today’s episode on: 
• Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu​
• iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo​
• Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl​
• Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw​
• Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome​

Thanks for listening, and see you in the next episode, at PDXCON!

Welcome to the Paradox Podcast! Paradox Interactive podcast about the business of video games where try to explain why we do the stuff we do.

Today, Shams and Daniel, discuss 2 equally horrifying scenarios:
What happens when we screw up a game release?
Possibly worse – what are the implications of a greatly successful game launch?

Timestamps:
0:15 – Introduction & excuses tbh.
4:38 – Why can’t everything be Valheim?
8:26 – CK3’s success & its consequences.
19:09 – What happens when a game release don’t go well?
27:45 – The value of taking risks
33:13 – Wrapping up

You can also find today’s episode on:
• Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu​
• iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo​
• Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl​
• Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw​
• Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome​

 Thanks for listening, and see you in the next episode!


Paradox on YouTube:
---------------------------------
ParadoxInteractive - http://youtube.com/ParadoxInteractive
Trailers, Feature Breakdowns, Dev Diaries, and more.

ParadoxExtra - http://youtube.com/ParadoxExtra
Gameplay of our video games, convention coverage, and other fun things from Paradox!

Paradox Grand Strategy - http://youtube.com/ParadoxGrandStrategy
Gameplay of our Grand Strategy Games. CK2, EU4, HOI4, Stellaris, and Imperator.

Welcome back to the Paradox Podcast, where we talk about the business of video games and try to explain why we do the stuff we do.
Today, Shams and Daniel are joined by Rikard Åslund, a Studio Manager at PDS, to talk about player feedback, its value, how to best submit it & how we balance your suggestions with market research!
 
Timestamps:
0:15 Intro & Guest Introduction
10:37 Subject of the day: Player Feedback
15:02 Dev Diaries & learnings from Imperator
22:46 Player comments vs metrics & KPIs
28:23 Your games suggestions vs market research
33:50 What is the future of fan interaction?
35:23 Do we read all feedback?
36:15 What is the best & worst way to give feedback?
39:17 Wrapping up & Dad Jokes (help…)

You can also find today’s episode on:
• Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu​
• iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo​
• Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl​
• Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw​
• Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome​

Thanks for listening, and see you in the next episode, in 2 weeks!

Welcome to the Paradox Podcast! Paradox Interactive podcast about the business of video games where try to explain why we do the stuff we do.

Today, Shams and Daniel, go over what game pitches interest Paradox as a publisher, how to maximize the chances of your game being published by us, and what makes it less likely to be canceled on the way to the release. 

Timestamps:

0:15 – Introduction & Daniel’s return

4:10 – What we’ve been playing

9:15 – Subject of the day: Game Pitch Assessment

12:57 – Game proposals vs PDX’s strategic goals

19:45 – Who we want to work with

22:58 – Expanding established PDX IPs

25:04 – Risk management & setting goals

33:22 - Assessing the game pitch 

40:00 – Wrapping up 

You can also find today’s episode on:

• Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu​
• Soundcloud: http://pdxint.at/2EYDl15​
• iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo​
• Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl​
• Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw​
• Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome​

Thanks for listening, and see you in the next episode, in 2 weeks!

Welcome back to this year’s last episode of the Paradox Podcast!
Today we’re joined by two special guests: Larian Studios’ Director of Publishing; Michael Douse & Stealth Games Venture’s founder Helen Burnill!
Together with Paradox’s own Shams Jorjani, they’ll attempt to put a lid on the year 2020 and summarize all the crazy and key events that happened in the games industry, or affected it, this year. 

On today’s agenda:
Digital & physical events in 2020 & in the future
How mainstream are video games now?
New consoles generation release
How did the games industry handle COVID-19 this year?
Will things return to normal after the pandemic?
Should we bundle vaccines with hot video games?
What’s happening with VR?
Our predictions for 2021
When will people put video games at the beginning of their Tinder bios?
And more

Timestamps:
Introduction & our guests– 0:15 
What we’ve been playing – 2:02 
Summary of the year with Michael Douse & Helen Burnill - 6:34 
Our predictions for 2021 – 33:09
Wrapping up – 43:36

You can also find today’s episode on: 
•  Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu
•  Soundcloud: http://pdxint.at/2EYDl15
•  iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo
•  Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl
•  Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw
•  Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome 

Thanks for listening, and see you all next year!

Welcome back to Paradox Podcast!

Today, Shams Jorjani will tell you all you wanted to know and were afraid to ask about “Negotiations”!

Some of the things on today’s agenda: Paradox’s approach to negotiations, a guest segment with lessons from the infamous “Orange Story”, and a number of Dos and Don’ts of negotiating, which we hope you’ll find useful!

Timestamps:

Introduction – 0:15
Topic of the day – Negotiations – 3:22
The “Do’s” of negotiations, and the Orange Story – 5:29
The “Don’ts” of negotiations – 12:17
How to prepare for a negotiation - 17:32
How to act during a negotiation – 19:49
How to close a negotiation – 21:39
Wrapping up & reading suggestions – 24:44

 You can also find today’s episode on:
•  Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu
•  Soundcloud: http://pdxint.at/2EYDl15
•  iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo
•  Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl
•  Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw
•  Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome 

Thank you for listening! See you in the next episode!

Welcome back to Paradox Podcast!

Today, we’re joined by Paradox Interactive’s COO Charlotta Nilsson, for a 40 minute long interview!
We talk about the role of a COO at Paradox, the challenges in managing operations in a video games industry vs other fields and engage in a gratuitous rant about Star Wars Squadrons!

Timestamps:
0:15 - Introduction
2:03 - Ranting about Star Wars Squadrons
5:42 - Who is Charlotta Nilsson? 
9:55 - What does the COO do? 
21:59 - What is different about managing company operations in the games industry? 
25:23 - How does the games industry compare to others? 
34:21 - Tips from the COO for managing company operations during a pandemic
38:34 - Wrapping up

You can also find today’s episode on: 
•  Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu
•  Soundcloud: http://pdxint.at/2EYDl15
•  iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo
•  Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl
•  Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw
•  Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome 

Thank you for listening! See you in the next episode!

The Paradox Podcast is back with a new episode!

For this mid-season occasion, we’ve invited our CEO Ebba Ljungerud to answer some of your questions!

Some of the questions on today’s agenda:
How do we balance our company’s growth with the gameplay depth of our games and the mainstream expectations?
How do we decide when to discontinue a game, and what factors, aside from sales, determine that?
How are our recent mergers working out for us?
What have we learned from CK3’s success?
What is our take on Unions and Crunch in the games industry?
How big should Paradox grow, and is there an end goal?
What is Ebba’s normal day at work like, and her experience as a CEO?

Timestamps: 
0:15 – Introduction
1:20 – What we’ve been playing
5:04 – Q&A session with Ebba Ljungerud
45:37 – Wrapping up

You can also find today’s episode on:
•  Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu
•  Soundcloud: http://pdxint.at/2EYDl15
•  iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo
•  Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl
•  Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw
•  Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome 

Thank you for listening! See you in the next Paradox Podcast episode, in 2 weeks!

Welcome back to the Paradox Podcast! This week we invited Mina Boström, Paradox Interactive’s Chief Technology Officer!

Today on the agenda:

• Who is Mina and what even is a CTO?
• Why should technology matter to PDX and our players?
• How is games industry different in that area?
• Lots of difficult words
• The work of an upper level manager and some management philosophy

Timestamps:
00:43 – Paradox’s CTO, Mina Boström
07:20 - What is a CTO?
11:40 – How does a CTO’s average week at PDX look like
13:45 – Challenges before PDX in terms of technology
15:32 – What is different about working in the games industry
23:12 – Leadership and technology
43:11 – Reading recommendations & wrapping up

You can also find today’s episode on:
•  Spotify: https://pdxint.at/2HFshtu
•  Soundcloud: http://pdxint.at/2EYDl15
•  iTunes: http://pdxint.at/2BnBWBo
•  Player.fm: http://pdxint.at/2EWTCnl
•  Poddtoppen: http://pdxint.at/2CiqXGw
•  Acast: http://pdxint.at/2ExBD9lWelcome 

Thank you for listening! See you in the next Paradox Podcast episode, in 2 weeks!