Paradox Development Studios has been going through some growing pains, and an internal reorganisation has left Imperator: Rome without many of its key team members. The developer has assigned its portfolio of grand strategy games across three internal teams, but Imperator has, for the time being, been left without a place to call home.
“Earlier this year, PDS has split into three distinct studios,” writes Paradox segment and portfolio manager Bevan Davies in a post to the Paradox Forums. “Internally, we call them PDS Green, PDS Red, and PDS Gold. Each team is in charge of both maintaining existing game(s), and developing new games.”
Green is handling Stellaris, and is supported by Paradox Arctic, based in Umeå, and is now led by Stellaris veteran Rikard Åslund. The Red team is heading up the development of Crusader Kings III, helmed by Johanna Uddståhl Friberg, formerly the studio manager of Paradox Arctic. Paradox Gold is handling Hearts of Iron IV under the leadership of Thomas Johansson, who has lately been working in upper management.
Davis says developers working on Imperator: Rome were needed as “reinforcement” on other projects at Paradox, and thus were moved following the launch of the 2.0 ‘Marius’ update in February, a major overhaul to the base game.
In the Imperator: Rome forums, Davies clarifies what’s happening, and says while there are no plans for additional content for Imperator this year, the goal is to “continue the same trajectory the game has been going in, with great quality of life updates, free content and solid, enjoyable DLCs.”
“Imperator is important to us, and you, our fans are also important to us,” Davies writes. “So we’re going to figure this out.”
Left unmentioned in either post is Europa Universalis IV, whose latest update has caused a firestorm of negative feedback from fans – causing developers at Paradox to speak out against some of the most toxic reactions.
My Imperator adventure is over, but I shall return some day, with even less hair.
— Arheo (@Arheo_) April 30, 2021
Imperator: Rome game director Peter Nicholson bid adieu to the team and the players on Twitter. “My Imperator adventure is over, but I shall return some day, with even less hair,” he wrote.