Paradox acquires AGE

AGE STUDIO – the parent company of French development studio AGEOD – is now owned by PC strategy publisher Paradox Interactive.

An acquisition deal has merged the two in a bid to boost the publisher’s portfolio of games.

“We have played and enjoyed AGEOD’s titles for years and greatly respect what they have achieved as a development studio. We see this acquisition as an opportunity to make AGEOD’s titles accessible to a wider audience on the global market,” said the CEO of Paradox Interactive, Fredrik Wester.

“AGEOD will continue to operate as a self-run partner studio, with its own line of products based on the AGE-engine and its own development team while Paradox will assist with our publishing resources and networks.”

Philippe Malacher, head of development and co-founder of AGEOD, added: “We are confident that, ultimately, all strategy game customers will be the primary beneficiaries of this partnership that will allow us to build more extensively on our past successes and on Paradox’s invaluable preponderance on the marketplace.”

The deal will enable both AGE STUDIO and Paradox Interactive to increase their catalogue of games – as well as draw in larger audiences to their titles.

“This alliance will allow AGEOD to expand our audience and availability via Paradox’s worldwide network as well as obtain skills and expertise that our limited means prevented us to achieve on our own,” said Philippe Thibaut, lead game designer and co-founder of AGEOD.

“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 be released under the new partnership is the historical strategy game Rise of Prussia, scheduled for a Q1 2010 release.