Paradox to use Stardock’s GOO

Stardock announced that publishing partner Paradox Interactive has adopted Stardock’s Game Object Obfuscation (better known as GOO) to protect Paradox PC game titles from piracy. Beginning with the Paradox title Majesty 2 and continuing on with other titles for both retail and electronic software sales, Paradox will wrap the games in GOO.

Announced by Stardock earlier this year at the Game Developers Conference, GOO is a new technology that developers can use to protect their game executable. When a protected game is run for the first-time, the player simply needs to enter in their email address and serial number. Once validated, the game can be played normally and typically never needs to connect to the Internet account.

More information about GOO can be found www.impulsedriven.com/developers.aspx.

Majesty 2 E3 report

Do you remember when Cyberlore Studios was the only name one would associate with Majesty - you know, before it decided to develop a simulation game about the Playboy Mansion? Yeah, those were good times. But Majesty is no longer owned by Cyberlore - Paradox bought the franchise and decided to create a brand new game in the series. To its credit the company is trying to create a fantasy kingdom simulation that adheres closely to the formula that made the first game such a sleeper hit.

At E3 Paradox is talking to anyone that will listen about the game including itself - more on that a bit later, but here are some details on what has changed since the game went into beta earlier this year:

All the missions have been finished and are now united into a single playable campaign. The game now hase lords, great artifacts, and a final boss implemented. At the end of a mission, the player can promote a hero to the status of Lord. Lords can be called upon in later missions, after building a Hall of Lords. when a player builds a Temple to any god of Ardania, he can promote a basic hero to a temple hero. For example, if a player builds a Temple to Dauros he can promote regular warrior to a paladin Of Dauros. Mages Guilds and Magic Towers are built now by means of magic rather than by the hands of peasants. Now you can tune the amount of money your tax collector will gather in his rounds. Finally, opposite hero types are hostile to each other now; for example, elves don’t like dwarves and dwarves don’t like elves. They will use some special abilities on each other. There are also other unit types who do not appreciate each other’s company.

Want more information? Then you’ll want to check out the latest interview with Majesty 2 executive producer Tom Söderlund. In the Q&A, Tom Söderlund, Executive Producer at Paradox Entertainment about how this sequel walks in the footsteps of the original game, while at the same time bringing some fresh new elements to the table. You can vide the two-part the Majesty 2 Q&A after the jump. Majesty 2 is scheduled for release during Q3 2009 and will be published worldwide by Paradox Interactive. It will be available for digital download at all larger digital download portals.

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Paradox Preps Three for E3

Paradox Interactive will show off three games at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles next month, the company announced. Paradox plans to show off its grand strategy fame, Hearts of Iron III, historical trading game East India Company, and the fantasy kingdom simulation game Majesty 2. Paradox will be located in the West Hall at Booth/Room #4529 demoing these titles to the press.

For more info on these games check out www.paradoxplaza.com, www.majesty2.com, and www.eic-game.com. All three games are scheduled for release in the third quarter.

The Rundown: Dec. 22 - 23

Ho! Ho! Ho! Here is the latest news off the wires and from around the world. Happy Holidays!

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