The DRM dilemma
Why Paradox chooses a non-DRM stance
One of the eternal questions in the games industry seems to be "why do publishers and developers put intrusive DRM on their products?" The answer is simple: we all want to get paid for the products we produce. In an effort to convert all pirates into buying customers, many companies have blindly gone for the DRM route instead of rewarding the customers who actually purchased the game.

The recent release of the Ubisoft DRM stirred a lot of emotions and rightly so. A the very least, people who bought the game want to experience the single player part of the game off-line.

As a developer, Paradox Interactive made an active choice in 1999 not to use DRM on any of our internally developed products. It was never something we felt the need to broadcast; we just worked harder to offer added value to our customers instead.

As a publisher, Paradox has applied DRM on a few different products, mainly when requested in a contract from a developer. Our experience to date suggests the following:

DRM is quite costly
Most DRM offers no extra value to paying customers
DRM causes a lot of extra support
There is no evidence that DRM actually increases our sales numbers
In light of the above, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to say "no" to intrusive DRM. This does not mean, however, that we support piracy or think it is ok to share our games freely over the web. We still believe people should pay for the games they play. After all, this is what keeps this industry running.

As I mentioned, Paradox has chosen a different path to the DRM dilemma. We don't believe pirates are worth our energy, time and passion. Instead we choose to focus on our paying customers by offering them extra services. In 2005, we took our first steps in rewarding our customers by introducing a game-unique ”medal” on our forums which can only be obtained through a unique serial key received at purchase. The second step is the introduction of Paradox Achievements, launching in Q4, 2010 as a part of our ”Paradox Connect” iniative Together with our gamers, we aim to continue developing Paradox Connect and all of its online features and extra services for months and years to come.

We will not put intrustive DRM on our products and in return, we ask that people who like our games continue to buy them. It’s a win-win any way you look at it.

/Fred



P.S. Still playing Mount & Blade Warband this week, best kill/death ratio so far is 6/9 (so yes, I am not that good). Look out on the 22nd Siege Server!

Paradox Interactive Announces Paradox Connect
Paradox Achievements first feature of Paradox Connect
GAMESCOM, COLOGNE – August 19th, 2010 – Paradox Interactive today announced Paradox Connect, the umbrella brand for all of Paradox Interactive’s online activities. Customized for Paradox users and games, Paradox Connect creates a seamless experience between in-game play and between game sessions.

Paradox Connect will be effortlessly integrated within the central hub of the Paradox community – the forum. Players that already have a forum account will automatically be a part of Paradox Connect.

Being connected to Paradox Connect means being able to take part in a host of new game experience enhancing features. Besides the forum, Paradox Connect will naturally be connected to other social media where the Paradox community can be found such as Facebook and Twitter.

The first feature of Paradox Connect to be introduced is Paradox Achievements – Players will be awarded points and rewards for great feats in Paradox games.

“We're really excited about adding achievements to our games” Says Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. He continues; “Our gamers are amongst the most dedicated out there and achievements are a great way to reward that dedication. Besides, our games are really well suited for achievements and the completionist gamers. I bet we'll have an achievement for conquering the world as Tibet in Hearts of Iron 3, and those who manage to get it will want to showcase it. With Paradox Connect they'll be able to show their friends who really is the greatest strategist.”

Achievements will be the first of many gameplay benefits Paradox gamers will enjoy via Paradox Connect.
Paradox Connect is scheduled to start its beta cycle in Q4 2010.

For more information:

Visit the ongoing F.A.Q. thread on the Paradox Forum:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=493064