Paradox acquires Prison Architect franchise from Introversion

Cities: Skylines, Stellaris, and Surviving Mars developer Paradox Interactive has purchased Prison Architect from Introversion Software for an undisclosed fee. 

Paradox will specifically acquire all the rights and assets to the prison building and management sim -- which has sold over two million copies across PC and consoles -- and will take ownership of the franchise on all current and future platforms. 

In short, that means Paradox will be able to steer the direction and development of the series moving forward, and the company is keen to "explore opportunities with the wider 'Architect' property in the future." 

Introversion co-founder Mark Morris said the team ultimately chose to let another studio have a crack at the franchise after taking it as far as it could over the past decade. 

"Prison Architect has been an intensely rewarding project for us," commented Morris. "Every developer loves seeing their creations come to life, but through Early Access, launch on multiple platforms and over a dozen post-launch content updates, we’ve been building and managing this building-and-management game for nearly a decade. 

"I think we’ve taken Prison Architect just about as far as we can, and we’re all eager to see where a team like Paradox can take it next. This also gives Introversion the chance to work on what we’ve got coming up next."