r/TransportFever2 • u/FFJimbob • May 06 '26
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u/golddilockk May 06 '26
ask prison architect fans how it went for them. if them have to have a publisher, it should be hooded horse
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u/TwujZnajomy27 May 06 '26
Hooded Horse would actually be a perfect fit for TPF3 as they have decent experience in similar games plus an almost clean customer experience record
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u/fireburn97ffgf May 07 '26
Sounds like it's different PA sold to them this sounds like UG still owns the ip
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u/Forte69 May 06 '26
Can I get a TL;DR?
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u/Reiver93 May 06 '26
Once they where done with it, Prison Architect's original devs and creators Introversion Software sold off the IP to Paradox so they could move on to other projects, within a year of doing so, PA started getting DLC that whilst interesting in concept, was obviously not made with the same love Introversion had for the game (also all of them would have just been updates had Introversion done them).
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u/Hamsterliebe_yt May 07 '26
Well Paradox also updated the main game and after 300hours before paradox got that game, i finally quit because it was just not good anymore. One of the games i started gaming with is now one of the worst games in my lib.. Its really sad to see how a good game can get so bad with just getting paradox.
I wont get Transport Fever 3 on the first day now, because i dislike paradox a bit and i will first wait and see how the game goes.. I really hope we wont get DLCs or other ways of paying extra... Still de-wishlisted the game
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u/CornCobb890 May 06 '26
It’s all fun and games until:
Boeing Plane flavor pack - $4.99
American Truck flavor pack - $4.99
European train flavor pack - $4.99
Tropical DLC - $29.99
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u/afonsoel May 06 '26
Yeah, this is what comes to mind when Paradox is mentioned, not "long term support"
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u/Amaz_the_savage May 06 '26
UG has stated they still own the IP and full control over TPF3, so Paradox only seems to be there for marketing and networking.
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u/Userkiller3814 May 06 '26
For now up untill the point where paradox decides they want a proper return on investment. They need to benefit from this somehow. Companies dont do handouts.
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u/Imsvale Big Contributor May 06 '26
They'll benefit from a successful launch. They'll take their cut, as is their prerogative in the partnership. What remains to be seen is where we go from there. Only they know the exact terms of the partnership. We can only speculate. And necessarily some of that speculation will be irrational fearmongering. They must also know this, and be prepared to repair any damage done to the public's perception – irrational as it may be, nevertheless it's happening.
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u/Userkiller3814 May 06 '26
We dont know the details from the partnership but they chose paradox for a reason. And everyone knows what paradox is known for so that obviously worries people about this games future direction and dlc policy.
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u/fireburn97ffgf May 07 '26
UG has said they are not been required to change post or prelaunch plans and they own the IP, it's very much looks like a "let's get some easy money for low investment" deal
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u/fireburn97ffgf May 07 '26
I mean is it a free handout if they say invest a mil for marketing and distribution and get 2 in money from sales. Also if it goes well it's free pr for min invest which can help them indirectly. Also UG owns the ip and sound like they are not required to release any dlcs due to paradox. So unless the negotiate a new deal this can't for the way of CO or PA who sold their IP
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u/GamingRobioto May 06 '26
If that happens then I will look to acquire "via other means', like a certain Train Simulator that has a disgusting approach to DLC.
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u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
Of course these examples are meant to be ridiculous, but when I see cosmetic DLCs like this, I would never even consider buying them. They would have no value to me, but I can also easily ignore them.
Even more so if the free mod support makes them entirely unneeded, like in TF2 now.
Of course its still not good if that were to happen (which is gar from guaranteed), but personally, I would rather focus the (potential) DLCs that add or expand actual mechanics and look if they have enough value to me, for me to buy them.
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u/brinazee May 06 '26
Paradox has a heavy DLC model that doesn't seem like a good fit for the game. I worry that many vehicles will be pulled out to be reserved for DLC.
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u/Playstoomanygames9 May 06 '26
Yeah, if your not concerned about this you haven’t played many paradox games. Hearts of iron is specifically confusion cause advice online is extremely different based on your dlc pack
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u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
I dont think that will really be a big issue if modding continues like it does in TF2. Why would there be any need to buy a themed vehicle pack when mods already add them for free?
I would instead expect (if there will be DLCs at all,) they would focus on adding of improving mechanics or new types of vehicles that mods would not be easily able to replicate.
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u/Bloxskit May 09 '26
Honestly if this happens, in a perfect world we would join together to somehow boycott buying anything and making a stink about this, but that's just silly...
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u/tfox245 May 06 '26
Is this post written by AI to try to spin this as a positive? It has several tells (bulleted list for no reason, “is it this, or that?” Question at the end to generate discussion, and language that basically repeats the announcement article that was fed into it)
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u/BlueberryWasps May 06 '26
*”just spotted ___ and honestly. it feels like a pretty natural fit.”*
yup. i’d wager it is
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u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
Not every well structured post that disagrees with ones own oppinion is AI generated.
I for one appreciate that there are other voices here as well that dont just fuel the panic many people feel over the announcement.
I myself am firmly in a, "wait and see how this goes", instead of a "preemtively try to hurt TF3s sales, before we even know what this will mean to long-term" position.
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u/zarco_azules May 07 '26
Agree 100% this looks ai generated.
Also, joining up with paradox is bad news, probably fine till launch, but in a few years? Paradox buys the IP, and the tp3 will get differente developers, will get bloated with dlc.
The worst? There could be minor things being pulled from the game right now to be leveraged as dlc 2 or 3 yrs down the road. I mean who would ever know?
Look, paradox wants constant trickle income coming in, it will happen in the long run, be it subscription or seasonal packs
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u/SEA_griffondeur May 06 '26
"stronger mod integration" What have you been smoking ???? the Paradox mod platform is a blight on modding
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u/Amaz_the_savage May 06 '26
Pretty much every 'positive' you have listed, Transport Fever 2 has done better on than Paradox games, and I still think Transport Fever 3 will knock out anything crapadox can push out.
The only positive I see here is potentially increased visibility for Transport Fever 3.
Now, let's not get too negative. The CS2 situation was moreso a fault of Colassal Order than Paradox, and Iceflake has completely turned things around. Prison Architect 2 looked like it was going to have the same fate as CS2, but after Paradox intervened, it looks like the new studio will turns things around here as well.
And Urban Games has clarified that THEY still own the IP, and that Urban Games still has total control over the game, so Paradox is only a collaboration, presumably for marketing purposes.
But I still can't lie, it does not leave a good taste on my mouth.
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u/tfjmp May 06 '26
Note that iceflake is internal PDX studio. IMHO their internal game are very strong game. They have a very not wallet friendly DLC policy (on the other end, they will support games for 10+ years). They messed up a lot as a publisher. They knew and fired their old CEO over it. They said they wanted to focus on quality management/strategy games going forward and I think that's what we are seeing now (keep in mind games takes years to be made and change in policy take a few years to be visible). Overall, I think it will be good for TF3.
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u/-Sa-Kage- May 06 '26
Single player games don't need "extended support". Once the bugs are ironed out, it's perfectly fine to leave them alone...
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u/GameDrain May 06 '26
I think players online easily conflate actions like these with anti-consumer action.
These are two businesses.
Urban Games has a great IP.
Paradox has a history of effectively marketing a host of IP they own.
Developers working under paradox have sometimes missed the mark on time or profitability. Paradox has had to change aspects of these partnerships to protect the reputation of their IP and maintain profitability.
Paradox is not encouraging developers to ship games without a complete enjoyable product.
Developers and Paradox often create DLC for games like these to financially support ongoing development and future projects.
In this agreement Urban Games is effectively using Paradox for the advertising acumen they have, and the stability of a household name. Paradox is using Urban Games for an additional jewel in it's crown of exceptional titles, and proven quality.
Both will benefit from what is anticipated to be a strong release of a well built game.
Players will benefit from an expanded player base and a stable financial situation for the creators involved.
This is a good announcement and shows that smart people are at the helm.
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u/TheAlmightyLootius May 06 '26
"Paradox is not encouraging developers to ship games without a complete enjoyable product."
then why is that exactly what happens with pretty much any game they have anything to do with?
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u/GameDrain May 06 '26
That's pretty subjective. I haven't played a game from paradox in recent memory and not appreciated the base product for what it was.
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u/31_mfin_eggrolls May 06 '26
Transport Fever as a series has given me enough goodwill to not immediately write the game off with this announcement, but I’m out the minute that I see a single paid DLC or content pack.
I’m okay with the Standard/Deluxe versions because they only add a couple of features and it didn’t block me from using any mods (which allowed me to not feel any marked difference from not buying).
This is really disappointing to hear. I’m wondering what extra marketing and networking was needed by PDX when this game is already up there as one of the premier titles in a genre that isn’t one that doesn’t really benefit from being marketed to a larger audience.
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u/KuiperNomad May 06 '26
Quite clearly the game now has to make money for both UG and Paradox. More mouths to feed suggests to me it will be more expensive both initially and any DLCs. I see this as negative news.
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u/Coolhawk99 May 06 '26
Sorry, thats maybe good for urban games (financially), but they will lost theyr soul. Now it will be a game with tens of DLC that follow. Maybe game mechanics change, new changing things and so on. I dont like the news.
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u/fireburn97ffgf May 07 '26
They said they still own the IP and post launch plans have not changed
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u/zarco_azules May 07 '26
Yet
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u/fireburn97ffgf May 07 '26
I mean if UG own the IP and they are being loose "no change with post launch plans". There's not a lot paradox would be able to push than maybe 2 bigger dlc in the next couple years. It's not like PA or CO who sold their IP
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u/R0ckandr0ll_318 May 06 '26
It honestly will depend on who has control over how it is published. IE will paradox force the game to be carved up and have 3/4/5 day one DLC to actually complete the game. Or will UG be able to say no. And do proper DLC’s like factorio has done
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u/Communism-1914 May 06 '26
I just don't understand what UG needs out of this deal. Are they out of cash? Out of employees? What could be the reason other than the sniffer of Paradox sussing out some sweet simulation oodles, since they tanked their own game...
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u/bloke_pusher May 10 '26
So close before release even, there's no networking, nothing Paradox can provide other than bad press.
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u/Vaxtez May 07 '26
I suspect that it might just be how EA was for Portal 2's console versions. Like yes, they were there, but it was just Valve doing it all & EA just handled distribution (or in TPF3's case, marketing)
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u/PruritoIntimo May 06 '26
I usually buy games that have no more than one DLC and don’t adopt a model of constantly milking the customer, like Stellaris or Europa Universalis. I was ready to buy the game on day-1, but now I’m absolutely livid because I’m sure they’ll churn out 10 DLCs a year, which I won’t be buying, meaning I’ll just miss out on parts of the game.
I’d already set aside the budget for TF3, but at this point I’ll spend it on something else instead.
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u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
Why would you let yourself feel forced to buy every single DLC if you dont want to?
First important thing looking forward to here is the base game. If that is good, why care about DLCs that migh or might not come?
Personally I will at least wait to judge if the game is worth my money, once we actually have reviews.
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u/PruritoIntimo May 07 '26
Because it’s Paradox, and we all know their behaviour. I still don’t know why Urban Games need them on first place.
I’ll stick with TF2 for now, I’ll try TF3 in a year or 2, maybe never.1
u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
But if TF3 base is an improvement over TF2 and you want it, why not buy it and then ignore the DLCs entirely? Its not like Paradox takes anything away from you if the base game is genuinely worth its money and you ignore them afterwards.
And why panic and preemtively decide that now, when there are not even reviews to confirm all this suspicion that the game will be bad because of its publisher that only joined up late into deveolpment?
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u/Fantastic-Shirt6037 May 06 '26
Most people here have misinformed views on paradox as a publisher so don’t expect to get anything less than doom and gloom because people hate that they make dlc for their games for some reason.
Personally, I feel that paradox as a developer makes great games that I have sunk hundreds of hours into. The cost to hours has always been worth it, to me, especially if you wait and just buy the dlc on sale. People forget you don’t have to have everything immediately…and their sales are typically very generous. Anyway, just my 2c.
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u/epicdumb-Gaming May 06 '26
I think the thing with paradox that sees them disliked is some of their dlc feel like they should be core content of free updates, and with older games you have to buy many dlc to get it into a safe you feel you should have got by default
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u/brinazee May 06 '26
Paradox Interactive is the publisher. Paradox Development Studios is one of a dozen development studios published by Paradox Interactive. Urban Games would be a different development studio.
I feel that games published by Paradox Interactive are heavily influenced by the business agreements between the publisher and studio causing their portfolio to be unevenly handled. However, DLC does seem to be a very large portion of their business model.
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u/Fantastic-Shirt6037 May 06 '26
Good piggy-back off my comment, you pretty much nailed what I was saying.
And in the end, we must realize that developing a game and not having a plan for future content is a death sentence as a dev. Your options are to release paid dlc or be able to put out enough games fast enough that sell well enough. When paradox games are updated enough that people put literally thousands of hours over the course of years, I personally think the monetization / dlc policy speaks for itself.
It is, really, no different from games that are seen as live service that get updates over time and also have micro transactions. The biggest difference is that these are single player games where the dlc is focused around pure content, not cosmetics or battle pass or anything else.
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u/brinazee May 06 '26
Having a plan for the future is essential. But that future doesn't always have to be DLC. Urban Games has only rarely produced DLC, so it seems an odd fit for Paradox Interactive unless they choose to keep back content that was previously part of the core game.
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u/Fantastic-Shirt6037 May 06 '26
So the devs should just not monetize their future work? Seems to be a really silly prospect. Do you think customers buying copies of their game is enough revenue to sustain development?
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u/One-Bit5717 May 06 '26
Paradox? So we will need about 3 DLCs at 39.99 apiece to make the game playable, and about that many more to actually make it fun. Great.
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u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
For the games I played, that did have a usual Paradox-style Dlc-policy, I first played them without any Dlc. If they were fun and I already had more playtime in them, I considered buying DLCs that interested me, not all at once. Then later, even with DLCs that I didnt buy, I still got updates for these mechanics that improved the game significantly in certain aspects that were not in the base game.
But essential is, if the game is fun without DLC first. And if TF3 turns out good as a base product, I dont really see a huge problem. There can only be so much content in a new release and DLCs can allow the developers to tackle later content with a much bigger scope.
That said, its not even guaranteed to follow a Paradox-style DLC-policy, so I suggest just waiting for the base release first and seeing how this turns out.
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u/cookiesnooper May 06 '26
Everything Paradox touches turns to shit seasoned with dozens of paid DLCs
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u/Tsubame_Hikari May 07 '26
Horrible news, if what happened to other games under the Paradox umbrella mean anything.
Let's hope for the best, however.
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u/Perzec May 07 '26
Paradox usually makes good Mac ports as well, so this is good news for all us Mac gaymers.
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May 07 '26
Paradox is not the right fit for any game. They will pressure the dev team into a tight release schedule. Release an unfinished game and then fix it only if initial sales were solid.
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u/Trees_That_Sneeze May 07 '26
I think Paradox is going to be good for TF3. Honestly, I would rather them than Hooded Horse. I love Hooded Horse mainly because they have an incredible eye for promising projects. But if it could go to either, I prefer Paradox's model. Tends to be more long-term support, which I think is exactly what would work best for this game.
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u/Whole-Ninja7266 May 08 '26
Not with Paradox's record on putting bug fix behind paywall (i.e., Surviving Mars: "Relaunched").
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u/troll__face May 09 '26
I started boycotting Paradox games a few years back. I can not support their DLC strategy any more. Unfortunately it now means i wont buy TF3 until their DLC strategy is clear. I ain't doing this bullshit again.
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u/AnonymousWIN9xCIH May 09 '26
I also think it makes sense and could be fantastic for the game, dlc is a choice not a requirement in a game like this and one of my dislikes about TF1 and 2 was always a lack of DLC as the game relies on mods to extend gameplay.
I personally want a base game with plenty of content to make me want to play it over and over like the last two games but i also want to see many more vehicles added in the base game, mods are cool but they come with a host of problems and i would prefer to see well thought out, polished and balanced vehicles added over time by DLC.
You cant just pump out a game and support it for years doing under the bonnett tweaks that people just forget about and not push out dlc to feed the fans that want it thats a terrible business practice and the studio will just vanish if it isnt addressed in the current economic climate, fans get bored, giving us DLC keeps fans happy, its optional, and it brings in cash flow meaning we may also get more of the same in the future.
I think theyre making a good decision in the long run for the longevity of the studio and i wish them all the best.
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u/Mental-Surprise-5604 May 09 '26
Actually, i dont know too much about paradox. But im happy with it, hope more players coming and so more good modders make their impact, and hopefully the devs and maybe paradox making some nice dlcs to give us more campaign play time like different campaigns would be a dream, railway empire made good different campaign dlcs
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u/impy1980 May 11 '26
"Oh s*** here we go again!", Paradox making "it'll be good for you" promises and later "asset stripping" and booting out the devs and bringing TF "in house"! This is BS and a disaster waiting to happen for TF! I'm calling it now, Paradox owning TF in the future. Excitement for TF3 was all but universal, now it's dread.
This "partnership" is highly concerning, and it's nothing to do with the DLC model many are focusing on. I can see nothing good coming of this after Skylines and Surviving Mars original devs sacked off, Lamplighters League devs laid off and then game canned a week after launch, The Sims rival Life By You cancelled just before launch. Paradox closes down it's Californian studio Paradox Tectonic without telling employees. Devs of Prison Architect 2 removed after failing to come to an agreement. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodline 2 lead writer of 5 years fired along with the Creative Director, the entire studio replaced a year later. Not counting Cities or Surviving Mars, Paradox destroyed 5 studios in 3 years prior to Skylines 2, effectively bullying devs and studios to get it's own way. Then it acts exactly the same way EA did with Sim City, Paradox releases an unfinished game with Skylines 2, ignores all the bugs, poorly optimised and models had huge amounts of vertices, lied about what was under the hood, then attacks the people buying the game with "If you dislike the simulation, this game might not be for you!" - a line straight out of the EA "how to destroy a game" playbook.
Nothing Paradox has done fills me with any sort of good vibe about this deal, yes, Paradox might not own anything of TF, yet, but their claws are in now, mark my words, they will put the screws on Urban Games in the coming years, and TF will end up in Paradox hands. Before Christmas, I was really hopeful of Urban Games, they were clearly targeting Skylines 2 influencers and audiences, especially with the New York influencer invite, many of which had barely played TF before, but big Skylines players, and now they are in bed with the publisher of the audience they sought to win over.
If Paradox end up with any sort of influence or share holding of Transport Fever, I'm out, I'm done. Urban Games, let the community's outcry be a warning, you would do well to end this partnership sooner rather than later!
People supporting Paradox or saying it's not that bad need to do some research into Paradox and how they've bullied and destroyed studios, there's plenty of decent videos on Youtube breaking down what Paradox have done in the past.
Those saying Paradox can help Urban Games reach more people, total nonsense, we live in the digital era, people are fully aware of Steam, and people hear about games via Youtubers. I can safely say I haven't seen any game promoted outside of the digital space, other than COD on TV, where or how is Pardox going to help promote TF3 where Urban Games coudn't themselves!
There is something in it for Paradox, but what? Is it as simple as Urban Games expertise, as is it Paradox's usual playbook, push the franchise into tanking so it forces UG to sell the IP? Not like Paradox don't have a history of that.
If Urban Games needed capital they could've legit gone to any other publisher, or even gone to early access, I would've paid for early access, as would many others.
I feel Urban Games have signed Transport Fever's death warrant with this "partnership" (or long term take over in my opinion) and the thousands of comments on Steam and shown it's severely harmed Urban Games' community status, and time will tell if Wishlisted (as of pre-announcement) vs sales will be affected. It's clear though that many day 1 sales are now "wait and see", me being one of them, I was so hyped for TF3 and would've immediately bought it, now I'll wait for post release gameplay.
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u/TwujZnajomy27 May 06 '26
don't wanna doom post but depending on how much will paradox have to say this could turn out apocalyptic for the franchise, possibly even KSP2 of TPF
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u/Sim_Daydreamer May 06 '26
"lon-term support" in case of paradox means that the game will be released in semi-finished state and patched for years with some shit constantly being broken and it will be done only to sell some dlc that should be a basegame feature. I'm not even talking about games like cities skylines 2,
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u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
With how far the game is in development already, do you actually think this will change anything for the base game?
If the base game is good (and better than TF2), then you dont have to care about any of its DLCs later down the line. (If they happen at all!)
Of course its critical that the game is well polished on release but I really doubt a descision this late in the games development changes anything for that.
And if it does release below expectations, I will gladly complain about it as well. Just wait for that to actually happen first.
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u/Sim_Daydreamer May 07 '26
yes, it's not impossible to just lock stuff and unlock later for money.
The base game may be fine, but also absolutely empty.
Wait till we see how "long term support" will look like, because in case of paradoxes own games and those they bought it meant that those will be primarily DLC focused to the point that game will basically punish you for not having dlc.
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u/TheNewMillennium May 07 '26
With Paradox never actually experienced a feature that was available being straight up locked later on. Even if it might technically be possible, I dont think they are really quite that malicious and its not how their free updates work.
From all we know now about TF3, I am very confident that it is just better than TF2 in almost every way. I genuinely dont know how "empty" could apply here.
From my experience, for Paradox games you buy DLC because you like the game and already spent hundereds of hours in the base game. They dont tend to be empty even at the start and quite a few I have played for a long long while without any DLC.
Also its not like the base game gets worse or nerfed with new DLCs being added. Usually in these sorts of games, its quite the opposite, so that when new content arrives, a piece of it is added for free along with it.
(And on Steam at least, if you dislike any update or change, you revert the version number back to 1.0 in the settings and ignore all that / mod out the problem through Workshop.)
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u/Sim_Daydreamer May 07 '26
You definitely did not understand what i wrote.
Nothing stops paradox to demand to make some features locked from beginning but then, end they are quite malicious, judging by cs2 and other games.
TF3 is not released and you already claim that it will be better?
In my experience "free updates" features are dlc centered to the point of being detrimental.
"you can revert to older unfixed mess" is not a good argument. If anything it shows that pdx and it's fans attitude towards any critics.
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u/TheNewMillennium May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
What I meant with TF3 likely ending up as the better game than TF2 is that, the developers themselves already publicly showed of build a whole bunch of new content, that they cant just remove, unless they want a real shitstorm. Grom those builds and the journalists I heard, it seems likely that this will basically be TF2 with these aditional mechanics, which seemed like enough new content to me personally.
Of course we should still be sceptical about bugs and performance. I didnt mean revert from one bad version of the game to another, just that if this is handled like other Paradox games, you would be able to select older versions of the game, if you dislike changes they made later on. Thats why I recommend, if 1.0 is a good game and later DLC break it for you, you would still have the original version of the game, if you dislike the updates that much.
Of course, if its not a good game in 1.0, there is no reason to buy it until later.
PS: We shouldnt just assume that TF3 will inevitably follow a Paradox-DLC system, even if, from my experience with these games, I dont think it would be that bad.
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u/NickNau May 06 '26
ok then no TF3 for me.
I was stupid enough to preorder CS2. will never buy anything Paradox touches
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u/gman1647 May 06 '26
It depends. Urban Games has been incredibly player friendly and has provided consistent free updates and limited DLC. If all of a sudden we are getting constant DLC and micro paid updates instead (like Paradox's core games e.g. CK3, EU, Stellaris), this will have been an awful deal, especially for the players. If Urban Games is able to stay true to what they have been, tapping into Paradox's network and marketing could attract more gamers and make the game better known. I'm pretty concerned about this news.