Old generals never dieĪndersson has always had a head for strategy games. Polygon sat down with Andersson, lead programmer on the original Hearts of Iron in 2002 and the designer of Hearts of Iron 3, to talk about his history with the franchise and what's taking so long to get it in the hands of fans around the world. Now their in-house studio is planning for the re-launch of one of their oldest franchises, World War II grand strategy title Hearts of Iron 4, a game that executive vice president of game development Johan Andersson calls 'the biggest grand strategy WWII game ever made.' Their reward has been a dedicated fanbase, willing to spend hundreds and sometimes thousands of hours playing their most complex games. They've also found success as a publisher, first with Magicka in 2011 and just this past year with Cities: Skylines and Pillars of Eternity. Where most companies would use that momentum to break out of niche markets, instead Paradox just established new niches to dominate. Strategy games maker Paradox Interactive is on a roll, fueled these past few years by the success of two keystone franchises - Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis.
