Most gamers in the world know Paradox Interactive (PDX). Since 1999, this Swedish company has been a leading global publisher of strategy games for PC and console (you’ve probably heard of Europa Universalis). With over 15 million gamers community and more than 100 released titles, Paradox is among the most influential gaming publishers. The technical director from PDX hired us, as Electron and React experts, to augment their internal team and build a game launcher from scratch.

Challenge

They needed to build a new version of their PC launcher, a desktop application serving as their digital distribution platform because the previous version of the software was outdated. PDX decided to roll back the old platform in anticipation of the launch of the new version. The client needed to find an experienced team with a vast knowledge of Electron and React that would communicate quickly, and that wouldn't over-promise anything in regards to the budget and timeline.

Why Brainhub

We are experts in Electron and React: The client hired us because they felt like we had the most case studies and examples of the projects we had successfully executed.
Excellent communication: We communicate exceptionally quickly and don't make new prospects wait. We estimate precisely and are eager to elaborate.
Tailored team augmentation: We feel confident in cooperating with the client's crew – Developers, designers, or product managers. It's a pleasure to share our passion for jointly creating epic projects. We integrated directly into PDX’s team existing workflows and processes.
We build scalable products: We support other teams in building platforms that are easy and fast to develop or adding new features and components. We have a holistic attitude and always consider their plans.

Process

How staff augmentation helped Paradox Interactive build a new game launcher experience

We worked together with the product owner who added new requirements to Jira. After this, using our business skills, we evolved needs and converted them into smaller tasks. The client always received estimations and was very satisfied with their precision. Then, if all was relevant, we implemented new features. The process as always was 100% transparent. At each stage we showed the current results and we were open to immediately clear up any doubts.

It’s critical that Brainhub understands the context of the project and is treated as part of the team. Our internal team and the Brainhub staff work as one.

‍Enzo Martin, Technical Director at Paradox Interactive

Solution

Using Electron and React technology, we rewrote the old version of the launcher. The client needed a scalable product to be able to upgrade the platform by new components. React gets us faster development and fewer bugs because problems are more comfortable to isolate and fix. Thanks to this, we can build quick applications that handle large amounts of data. In comparison to the previous version that was dedicated to Windows only, the latest is also available on macOS and Linux.

The result is a refreshed game launcher that we implemented for Imperator: Rome. It's fast and intuitive tool that provides users with valuable features. For PDX, it’s a high-quality part to develop into a future complete platform.

How does game launcher work?

The primary role of the launcher is just running the game. Users also can upload their mods, adjust graphics settings, or read the latest news. Additionally, if someone downloads a game from Steam, the PDX launcher also runs. The launcher helps to centralize common features between games.

Long-term cooperation is key to mutual success

Even after the first launch, we still have an ongoing engagement with the client. PDX appreciates our Electron experts and they've decided to keep us on for the next stage of the project.

We are still working on integrating all components into one platform. It's a tool through which their customers we will be able to download, install, and play the game on their computer. The platform also uses the application to post news or updates about the game or events that they have. Their customers use this application to access their accounts and manage the game or games that they've purchased from PDX.

Technology stack

We built a game launcher in Electron using mostly JavaScript technologies. We used React and Redux to build a user interface. At the client’s request, we also used C++ to optimize critical operations and better integrate with the user's machine. Together we also decided to use GoLang, which helped us with building automated client-side self-updating.