Digital revenue to outperform physical media for Paradox

Paradox Interactive, the developer of acclaimed strategy franchises Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron, as well as publisher for those and a raft of other titles, is expecting to see revenues from digital distribution outpace those of physical retail for the first time in 2010.

That's according to CEO Fredrik Wester, who told GamesIndustry.biz that he anticipated the milestone this year, following a 40 per cent share of revenues for digitally-delivered titles in 2009.

"From the perspective of the number of units sold, we've never sold more on the PC than we did in 2009, so you could say that the rumours of the death of the PC are greatly exaggerated," he revealed.

"Digital download has really come in as a big commercial thing for us - 2010 will be the first year where we earn more money on digital download then we do in retail revenue, which is huge for us. It was around 40 per cent in 2009, so this year we're going even more towards digital."

Wester also believes that while PC gaming seems to be getting stronger, it's got more to do with levels of piracy receding due to better, more convenient ways for people to legitimately buy product.

"I think the reason for the growth on the PC market, that's happening on traditional PC games, is because a lot of pirates are being converted into paying users," he said. "If you take services like Steam and Gamersgate (that I was a part of founding in 2006), there's better accessibility, it's easier to download, there are services connected to the legitimate purchases - and that's led to less piracy.

"I don't think there's a revival for PC gaming, or that the number of users are actually increasing - but that's how I see it, at least," he added.

The full interview with Fredrik Wester is available on GamesIndustry.biz now.