For anyone who hasn't been following Paragon's development, let's just say it hasn't been smooth sailing. Constant iteration, sweeping changes and a general sense the ship hasn't quite found its course, has left many players frustrated. Unsurprisingly, this - combined with a variety of issues I'll talk about in a later editorial - has left the game struggling to find its feet. For Epic, this isn't good news and its player retention numbers, according to their latest statement, are in the dumps. From the sounds of it, unless Epic can quickly increase retention, they'll can the whole thing and pursue Fortnite. Full statement below.
Hey everyone,
We know you have a lot of questions about the future of Paragon. We care deeply about this community and we know this is important to you, so here's a summary of where we are.
Going from Legacy to Monolith to a new card system and all of the changes in-between, our efforts have always been focused on growing the game. While each of these incarnations has been beloved by a core community, none has been large enough to achieve mainstream success. This, combined with the humbling success of Fortnite has caused us to question if we have a good path to grow Paragon and make it thrive.
Work on Paragon continues. V.45 ships this week with both Hero and Card balance as well as stability improvements.
However, progress has been slower lately for two reasons: First, the team’s time is split between immediate improvements and longer-term efforts, so there’s less visible progress. Second, a number of Paragon team members jumped onto Fortnite to help sustain the game as it has grown far larger than anything in Epic’s past.
Here inside Epic, we’re talking about the future of Paragon in pretty much the same terms as you’re talking about it. The core challenge is that, of new players who try Paragon, only a small number continue to play regularly after a month. Though Paragon has evolved, no iteration has yet achieved that magical combination of ingredients that make for a sustainable game. (As an aside, the problem isn’t marketing or how to make money with Paragon. We have good ideas that would solve those problems if we can find a way to make Paragon grow.)
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be figuring out if and how we can evolve Paragon to achieve growth and success, and trying some things internally. In the meantime, Paragon’s release cadence will be slower.
We welcome your thoughts on what we should do. Like you, the team is deeply passionate about Paragon. Like you, we would love to find a path that works. And like the community at large, we are not all in agreement on what could place Paragon on a fundamentally better path for all.
We will always be transparent with the community, and this is where we are right now. As we have more information, we will share it with you.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Paragon Game Page.