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Civ V designer leaves Paradox Interactive after only six months

Civ V designer leaves Paradox Interactive after only six months

Games designer Jon Shafer has left Paradox Interactive after only six months.

In a statement on Paradox’s website, the Swedish publisher said this was: “Due to creative differences.” The official statement also includes comments from Mattias Lilja, Paradox executive vice president of studios, who said that the decision was “mutual”.

The lead designer on Civilization V, Shafer posted his own update regarding his departure from Paradox on the Kickstarter page for his long-running game development project, At the Gates.

“In the end it really was creative and cultural differences - I can't go into details and will simply leave it at that. I still love Paradox and its games, but things sadly just didn't work out. I'll still always be rooting for all my friends over there, and wish them the best of luck,” he said.

“I'll be focusing on At The Gates again. I can honestly say it'll be nice to go back to working on it full-time now that I've had some space and can return with fresh eyes and enthusiasm.”

“I made a few attempts at getting back into things but it became truly overwhelming at a certain point, so I stepped away. I'm not proud of that, and I apologise to all of the people I've let down.”

Survival strategy game At the Gates’ funding period on Kickstarter took place in early 2013 and received $106,283 from 3,009 backers.

Shafer had previously most recently posted two updates on the Kickstarter for his game in April and May this year, before which he had last posted in August 2016, his only Kickstarter update that year. The game has been in Alpha since October 2013, and then “Alpha II” since May 2014.

In the comments of the most recent update, backer James Sunderland said: “Talk is cheap, so the lack of any regular communcation [sic] speaks volumes in this case,” to which Shafer himself responded: “Totally fair.”


Intern Staff Writer