Paradox Interactive CEO Frederik Wester Steps Down, Deputy Takes Over in January
Frederik Wester is stepping down as chief executive of Paradox Interactive, the games publisher behind Stellaris, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings 3. His successor is already named. Mattias Lilja, the company's deputy chief executive, takes over on 4 January 2027, according to Eurogamer.
Those three series are grand strategy games. Players guide nations, empires or dynasties through long campaigns that can run across centuries of in-game history.
Wester will stay in the top job until 4 January 2027. Paradox says the overlap is meant to ensure an orderly transition. The company confirmed the change in its press release on Lilja's appointment.
Wester has been part of the company for a long stretch. He joined Paradox Interactive in 2003. He first served as chief executive from 2009 to 2018, then returned to the role in 2021. Eurogamer reports that he has led the company as chief executive for a combined decade and a half.
He is not leaving the company's leadership altogether. After he steps down as chief executive, he will sit on the board, the group of directors that oversees a company's overall direction. He will focus there on the company's long-term development.
Lilja's move from deputy to chief executive is a planned handover inside the company. The announcement names him as the person who will lead Paradox Interactive into its next phase.
