Key Notes
- Paradox’s third-quarter revenue increased 15% to SEK 456 million, while operating profit rose 27% to SEK 142 million with help from the Playrion disposal.
- PC games generated SEK 383 million and remained the largest business, while console revenue climbed approximately 78% to SEK 57 million.
- A SEK 40 million Playrion sale gain helped reported profit, while mobile revenue and nine-month operating cash flow declined despite the broader earnings improvement.
Paradox Interactive increased third-quarter revenue to SEK 456 million, up 15% from a year earlier, as its established PC games continued to carry the business and console revenue grew sharply. Operating profit rose 27% to SEK 142 million, although that result included a substantial gain from selling mobile studio Playrion.
The publisher’s October 29 results cover July 1 through September 30. CEO Fredrik Wester attributed much of the quarter to the wider catalogue, with new releases arriving late in the period.
PC Remains the Core, While Console Revenue Accelerates
PC games generated SEK 383 million, compared with SEK 349 million a year earlier. That represents growth of about 9.7% and roughly 84% of total quarterly revenue. Consoles brought in SEK 57 million against SEK 32 million, an increase of approximately 78.1%.
| Platform | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| PC | 383 | 349 |
| Console | 57 | 32 |
| Mobile | 10 | 11 |
| Other | 6 | 3 |
The figures show how different the two businesses remain in size: even after its faster growth, console revenue was less than one-sixth of PC revenue. Mobile income fell from SEK 11 million to SEK 10 million, so the improvement was not uniform across platforms.
Steam alone accounted for SEK 375 million, according to the full report, equivalent to about 82% of group revenue. We previously covered the importance of older games in Steam’s growing business; Paradox’s catalogue-led quarter provides a publisher-level example of that continued commercial life.
Profit Growth Includes a Playrion Disposal Gain
Paradox recorded a SEK 40 million gain from the Playrion sale in other operating income. That contribution was larger than the SEK 30 million year-on-year increase in operating profit, making the disposal important when interpreting the headline earnings improvement.
Net profit rose to SEK 127 million from SEK 93 million. Quarterly operating cash flow edged up to SEK 197 million from SEK 195 million, but the nine-month figure declined to SEK 610 million from SEK 723 million. Higher reported earnings therefore did not translate into growth across every cash-flow measure.
For January through September, revenue reached SEK 1.411 billion, up 7%, and operating profit increased 9% to SEK 425 million. Those year-to-date results cover a longer period than the stronger quarterly growth rates.
Trophy Games had announced the Playrion acquisition in September. The Paris studio makes Airlines Manager and Airport Simulator: First Class. Its buyer said the existing team would continue operating independently, while it would use Airport Simulator’s technology as a potential foundation for further simulation games.
Transport Fever 3 Arrived at the Quarter’s End
Urban Games launched Transport Fever 3 on September 29, leaving only two days of the reporting period. The developer confirmed releases on PC, PlayStation and Xbox and said it intended to keep developing the game with community feedback.
Paradox’s separate launch announcement lists Windows, Mac and Linux editions through Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG, alongside PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The launch gives the publisher another transport-management title across its two largest platform categories, although the quarterly figures do not disclose the game’s unit sales.
