Paradox Acquires AGEOD In PC Strategy Power-Up

PC strategy publisher Paradox Interactive has acquired AGE Studio, and with it French strategy developer AGEOD -- hoping to merge two strategy specialists into one strong title slate. Paradox says it hopes to make AGEOD's titles accessible to a larger market. "We have played and enjoyed AGEOD’s titles for years and greatly respect what they have achieved as a development studio," says CEO Fredrik Wester. "We see this acquisition as an opportunity to make AGEOD’s titles accessible to a wider audience on the global market." AGEOD will continue operating independently as a "partner" studio, with its own line of products built on its proprietary tech and with its team remaining intact, while Paradox will provide publishing support and resources. French studio AGEOD was founded in 2005 and is as known for its AGE Engine tech as it is for historical strategy games like Birth of America and World War One. The studio says it's looking forward to expanding its audience, and that it's enthusiastic about gaining skills and tools it would have been unable to manage on its own. Philippe Thibaut, lead game designer and co-founder of AGEOD, stated: "We will concentrate on our core expertise of product development and be able to offer our customers brand new strategy games as early as 2010, with the same level of care and dedication that we have for the past 5 years." The first game to emerge from the acquisition will be AGEOD's Rise of Prussia, slated to release on PC in the first quarter of 2010. Paradox has said it had its best year ever in 2009, and that it hoped to apply the fruits of its success toward further growth and expansion. It's acquired formerly-external properties like the Majesty RTS/RPG hybrid (it released Majesty II in September), and begun working with emerging Russian developers, and dipping its toe into the console waters.