Magna Mundi started as a mod, began the transition to commercial game and has now stopped somewhat short of that goal. Aiming to harness the complexity and scope of the Europa Universalis 3 mod into a glorious grand strategy game that would be as much about the internal wranglings of leadership as expansion, whether of the smallest state or the mightiest empire, Magna Mundi was certainly ambitious and Paradox’ announcement of the cancellation suggests progress has not matched the lofty targets.

“We have seen this project drag on and the code we have gotten has not shown significant improvement for many months. Some old and known problems persists and new ones appear with each delivery.”

There’s more from Paradox and, stories having at least two sides, the Magna Mundi team have responded.

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Last week I was in New York, eating pizza and inventing all-new comparative metaphors for how cold it was (“colder than Bobby Kotick’s eyes”, “colder than a Game Gear’s battery”, “colder than a handjob from an eel”). Why? Because last week was the yearly Paradox Convention, where journalists are invited to meet a whole bag of developers and look at all of Paradox’s upcoming releases.

In short, we’ve got even more to look forward to in 2011 than we thought. I’ll be going through these at top speed, so put on your protective goggles and we’ll take a look. Do I have to remind you of the boy who once read a succinct article of mine and lost an eye? No? Good.
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