Paradox has launched its own mod distribution platform appropriately titled Paradox Mods. While many of the publisher’s titles already support easy mod installation through the Steam Workshop, Paradox Mods is intended to bridge the gap between the company’s games no matter the platform – whether we’re talking about consoles or the increasingly broad selection of PC distribution platforms.
Cities: Skylines, Stellaris, and Surviving Mars are the first three titles listed on the official site, each with a decent selection of mods already available. They’re only fractions of the numbers already available on the Steam Workshop, though that’s to be expected given the newness of the platform. Using the site requires a Paradox account – whether you’re a user or a modder – and you have the option for Workshop-style subscriptions or manual downloads.
It works basically as the Workshop does, except it’s much broader than Steam. Paradox wants to build a platform that supports games whether they’re purchased on Steam, the Epic Games store, GOG, or anywhere else, and the idea is for consoles to be part of the fun too.
With the company’s games continuing to be available across more diverse platforms, Paradox’s Anders Törlind tells GamesIndustry.biz that “eventually we would have come to the conclusion that Steam mods will only serve Steam users, and we have a growing percentage of players that buy their games from elsewhere.”
As for consoles, the platform already supports Surviving Mars mods on Xbox One, though Sony and Nintendo have been reticent to join the mod party.
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Paradox’s upgraded Jomini engine was also built with mods in mind, so it looks like the studio is doubling down on user-generated content for its titles in a variety of ways.