Paradox Interactive does a fantastic job creating their games, but it’s the modding community that keeps us playing for years after launch. With more Paradox games coming to consoles, the company is teaming up with Xbox to bring its open modding platform to console folks.
Paradox’s Surviving Mars will be the first with over 30 mods tested and ready for Xbox One players according to the publisher. You can check out all the mods here (be sure to filter by Xbox One).
Anders Törlind, Product Owner for Paradox Mods, understands how big the modding community is for Paradox. “Modding has been, and remains an important part of the Paradox community. As we have diversified the way we distribute our games, we want to make sure all our players can take part in the creation process.”
Törlind goes on to say: “For Surviving Mars, we have worked with mod creators to support Paradox Mods with some of the best mods available, all in one place and downloadable in-game or simply using a web browser. We really look forward to unlocking the world of modding for all members of our community, regardless of what system they are using to play our games.”
In the same statement, Paradox says Surviving Mars will be the first to have console mods (via the new platform), but they are planning to bring mods to other games later this year. It sure sounds like the soon-to-be-released Stellaris: Console Edition will get it on this mod action sooner rather than later.
Mods are already available for Cities Skylines, but it’ll be interesting to see if they get integrated into this new mod platform.
I’m crossing my fingers all this support turns into Paradox opening the floodgates with its library of games. Give me BattleTech, Crusader Kings II, and Hearts of Iron IV on console. The more strategy games on console, the better.
Mods on consoles aren’t new. We’ve seen games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and more bring one of the best parts of PC gaming to a new audience. But creating a system for modders to push their creations to players across multiple platforms is new. And hopefully, it’s a system that lasts.