shadowrun trilogy switch Harebrained Schemes

Paradox Interactive “parts ways” with Harebrained Schemes after The Lamplighters League

This is good-bye, chummer.

Paradox Interactive and Harebrained Schemes have announced that the two companies will be parting ways. This comes after Paradox expressed disappointment with the performance of The Lamplighters League. Paradox had acquired the company in 2018.

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This is all kind of shocking to me, simply because it doesnā€™t seem like that long ago that Harebrained Schemes was acquired. However, following the launch of The Lamplighters League, Paradox said that theyā€™d be taking a write-down on the production, as they donā€™t expect to recoup the development costs. Destructoidā€™s own Steven ā€œBig Lifterā€ Mills has a pretty great write-up of that here.

Charlotta Nilsson, CCO of Paradox said, ā€œWe and HBSā€™ leadership have been discussing what would happen after the release of The Lamplighters League, but a new project or sequel in the same genre was not in line with our portfolio plans. Hence, we believe that a separation would be the best way forward.ā€

Meanwhile, Harebrained Schemes expects to continue supporting The Lamplighters League through the end of the year and will be seeking partnerships and funding beyond that.

A different strategy

Harebrained Schemes was founded in 2011 by Shadowrun creator Jordan Weissman along with Mechassault producer Mitch Gitelman. The company seemed to be set on revisiting FASAā€™s old properties, being known for the Shadowrun Returns trilogy and Battletech. However, following the acquisition in 2018, Weissman left the company.

The Lamplighters League is a new property from the developer, but following lukewarm reviews, it has not performed to expectations. Personally, Iā€™m puzzled by it. I have always kept one eye on Harebrained Schemes (mostly with hopes of another Shadowrun title), but I had no idea that The Lamplighters League was even launching. While many of the gameā€™s features have been called over-ambitious, much of the communityā€™s complaints seem to be about technical issues and day-one DLC. Those sound like publisher problems.

Nonetheless, Iā€™m hoping this isnā€™t the last we see of Harebrained Schemes. This outcome is at least better than the company being shuttered outright.


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Zoey Handley
Staff Writer - Zoey is a gaming gadabout. She got her start blogging with the community in 2018 and hit the front page soon after. Normally found exploring indie experiments and retro libraries, she does her best to remain chronically uncool.