Paradox Interactive - Going Public

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Gamasutra reports that Paradox Interactive is going public soon. What this means for there future ventures is more development in console and mobile games.

An IPO is in the cards for Paradox Interactive, as chief Fredrik Wester took to Twitter today to confirm that the 17-year-old company intends to go public this year.

What's especially intriguing about the long-private company's intent to turn public is that proceeds from sales of shares in the company will presumably afford Paradox an influx of cash, something it recently spent a great deal of in order to take White Wolf Publishing off of CCP's hands.

According to a roughly-translated version of an interview with Wester published today by Swedish-language outlet Di Digital, Paradox is interested in making further acquisitions in the future and expanding deeper into mobile and console game publishing.

Gamasutra has reached out to Wester for further details on Paradox's IPO plans.
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More information.
 
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Enjoy the corporate world's committees of morons and answering to the avarice of shareholders, Paradox.

R.I.P., Paradox.
 
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So that is it for our beloved vampire saga. Now earning money becomes absolute #1.
 
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Just one note from the Swedish interview, they are actually not planning on selling a majority share, so it might not be as bad as it sounds.... hard to know though.
 
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The same could always happen to non-public companys. If you're in need for cash and bring in some private investors it can change the direction of a company as well. It becomes "dangerous" when people are in control, who only care for the metrics, but not the products or the company tradition. Sometimes you have to be emotionally involved as well to get the right feeling for a business.

Said that, there isn't anything to worry more about then before.
 
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Even as a private company they will already have shareholders, and a legal duty to run the company for the best profit on their behalf.

The problem with the sort of shareholders you get from a public offering is that they tend to prioritise short term returns. That can be bad for a company that has a more long term vision for how it should prosper.
 
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"Paradox is interested in making further acquisitions in the future and expanding deeper into mobile and console game publishing."

Sure, nothing to worry about....
 
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Ripper said:
Even as a private company they will already have shareholders, and a legal duty to run the company for the best profit on their behalf.

The problem with the sort of shareholders you get from a public offering is that they tend to prioritise short term returns. That can be bad for a company that has a more long term vision for how it should prosper.
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Yes but those shareholders have started the company together, share a vision and goals. Even if you bring in new ones you can control who you bring in and that those share your vision for the company.
Going public removes any control.
 
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Not necessarily. As a public company you could also try to keep your common stocks mostly under control. You don't have to worry about preferred stocks.
 
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Archangel said:
Yes but those shareholders have started the company together, share a vision and goals. Even if you bring in new ones you can control who you bring in and that those share your vision for the company.
Going public removes any control.
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Not necessarily. Most companies sell private shares to investors to raise capital, at some point. Those investors can be just as troublesome as public shareholders.
 
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Ripper said:
Not necessarily. Most companies sell private shares to investors to raise capital, at some point. Those investors can be just as troublesome as public shareholders.
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Yes but you can choose who is your investor. Maybe you frack up and they make your life hard but at least you had a choice. With public trading anyone can own it now and you have no say except on how many shares you are selling.
 
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Archangel said:
Yes but you can choose who is your investor. Maybe you frack up and they make your life hard but at least you had a choice. With public trading anyone can own it now and you have no say except on how many shares you are selling.
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I think it can vary. Some private investors can be great, and some can be such a pain that you'd be better off with public shareholders just interested in the stock price.

The point I'm making is in response to people suggesting that Paradox is selling its soul to become the corporate slave of shareholders. In all likelihood, they already face that relationship, in some form, with private investors.
 
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One of my favorite Paradox games is Victoria 2. The CEO (I think) of the company back then agreed to make it because of community pressure, he didn't think the game would be profitable. In fact, he said he'd shave his head if the game made any money. It did, and he shaved his head. If the company had been public back then, Victoria 2 probably wouldn't have happened.
 
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if it is good for the economy, and if it gives these people jobs, then we ought to just let it be. and as far as people making games to not make money, let's just call those people independently wealthy. indie game companies aren't communes of hippie programmers wanting to give away games to make the world a better place. they are guys who want a job to earn a living just like everyone else. if going public gives the guys at paradox a steady job in these uncertain times, lets be happy for them and stop lamenting silly things.
 
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EA will buy them - or Microsoft as well - and close them down. Probably after a HEFTY phase of totally exploiting the company.
 
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Alrik Fassbauer said:
EA will buy them - or Microsoft as well - and close them down. Probably after a HEFTY phase of totally exploiting the company.
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Or not... but not much we can do about things like that, really. I don't buy EA or MS games, but that doesn't make any difference to them.
 
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Alrik Fassbauer said:
EA will buy them - or Microsoft as well - and close them down. Probably after a HEFTY phase of totally exploiting the company.
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I doubt it, their games are very niche, not something EA or Microsoft are probably interested in.
 
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wolfing said:
If the company had been public back then, Victoria 2 probably wouldn't have happened.
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Why not? Being public doesn't mean everyone wants to compete instantly with ActiBlizz, EA or Ubisoft. It's hard to tell the future, but you simply can't attack the big ones (including Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo) by just going public. You have to grow in a sustainable manner. So why leaving the niche that created your success? There could even be more profit for a shareholder to invest in smaller companies, because the ROI is higher than for big players. These companies make a lot of money, but at the same time they also spent a lot of it and have to make large investments. I don't think investors had a good time with EA during the Riccitiello era. The same for Nintendo or Sony.

If you take a look at different creative branches, you can see public companies still doing smaller and more creative projects, like book and movie companies.
 
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NOOOO!!!!
GothicGothicness said:
Just one note from the Swedish interview, they are actually not planning on selling a majority share, so it might not be as bad as it sounds…. hard to know though.
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Oh thank goodness!
mbpopolano24 said:
"Paradox is interested in making further acquisitions in the future and expanding deeper into mobile and console game publishing."
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Oh sweet, some acquisitions and… OMG! NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Edit: Hearts of Iron 4 should be getting close. Can you imagine that on mobile? Or even console??
 
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Actually a lot of their games would probably work very well on tablets. (admittedly they would need to tweak the interface) but their strategy games are slow paced and offer a type of gameplay that would likely be easy to convert into tablet gaming.

The more the game is like a board game, the easier the move to a tablet is.

I'm always wary about news like this...but in the end...the games they produce will speak for themselves. No sense in worrying about it.
 
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