Paradox Interactive Prison Architect Acquisition Announced

Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive announced it has acquired the Prison Architect IP. In addition to taking up development of the overall franchise, Paradox will now publish any future titles in the series. Preliminary plans were also discussed to push the Architect franchise in other directions.

Prison Architect was originally developed and published by Introversion Software. Paradox first got its hands on the Prison Architect games when it first published Prison Architect: Mobile. With this purchase, Paradox will now be the publisher on all current versions of the title, as well.

Prison Architect first came to the PlayStation 4 in 2016, and we reviewed it positively. It has received continuous support since then, with the most recent introduction of “Escape Mode.”

Interestingly, part of the announcement concerned the future of Prison Architect. Paradox said it will publish all titles “on all current and any future platforms.” In addition, Paradox mentioned it would “explore opportunities with the wider Architect IP in the future.” Obviously that’s the furthest thing from confirmation, but it’s still a fascinating prospect. There really are unlimited possibilites of where the Architect franchise can go, and the formula could be applied to almost any concept. Could we see a Hospital Architect or Shopping Center Architect, perhaps?

Paradox is already familiar with the simulation genre. Among other properties, it released Surviving Mars in early 2018. It also has the ever-popular Cities: Skylines in its library as well. We shall see what Paradox has planned for the Prison Architect franchise, but it’s certainly an exciting prospect.