Paradox Interactive is quickly cementing itself as the potential new king of simulation games with titles like Cities Skylines, Life By You, and the hotly anticipated Cities Skylines 2. The studio has also acquired indie hits like Prison Architect and Academia School Simulator, which has only grown its simulator market share. It seems like Paradox really wants to take on the genre, and a Rollercoaster Tycoon clone feels like the next logical step.
Cities Skylines 2 and Life By You could take the genre by storm and will hopefully be everything that Paradox is promising they will be. If they prove to be a success, then Paradox should quickly get to work chasing after the theme park simulation genre. While games like Planet Coaster have given players their theme park fantasy, nothing has compared to the iconic RollerCoaster Tycoon series, and Paradox could be the one to finally fill that void.
The Industry Has a RollerCoaster Tycoon Shaped Hole
RollerCoaster Tycoon used to be one of the biggest names in the simulator genre. This series of theme park builders first started in 1999, and it seemed to go from hit to hit. It was one of the few games that truly gave players control of their own theme park, and that concept pulled players to it in droves. The series seemed unstoppable, but then something happened after the release of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 was popular when it released in 2004, but the fourth game would not release come out until 2016. Various behind-the-scenes issues caused the game this massive gap between releases, and fans were not thrilled when RollerCoaster Tycoon World finally hit store shelves. It paled in comparison to its predecessors, and the game felt like a glorified mobile title. Outside a few remasters, this game killed any hope for further RollerCoaster Tycoon adventures.
Frontier Developments ended up releasing its own spiritual successor to RollerCoaster Tycoon in 2016. The studio had extensive experience with the genre, and fans were excited to see what it would deliver. Planet Coaster did not disappoint, and it may be one of the most engaging theme park builders on the market. It offers a plethora of content for fans of the genre to explore, and Frontier has been consistently updating it with exciting content.
Planet Coaster has gone a long way in filling the RollerCoaster Tycoon void. It has almost everything that theme park builder fans would want. However, it puts a greater focus on free form building instead of theme park management. Most of Planet Coaster's DLC simply adds new props and cosmetics for players to use in their builds. Players who want to spend hours customizing their perfect theme park can have a lot of fun here, but players that want to manage the business side of things may not have as much fun.
Paradox Interactive seems like the perfect studio to revive the RollerCoaster Tycoon brand. It was able to fill the SimCity void with Cities Skylines and is preparing to take on The Sims with Life By You. While it could focus on those two franchises, it could also try to go for the theme park builder genre. If it blended the creativity of Planet Coaster with the management features of Cities Skylines, then it has the chance to create one of the best RollerCoaster Tycoon successors around.
Theme park builder fans have had no shortage of content in recent years, but it still feels like none of the games have truly captured what made RollerCoaster Tycoon special. Many titles have come awfully close, but Paradox could be the ones to finally deliver on that promise. If it can create an exciting new theme park builder, then it could truly cement itself as an unstoppable simulator machine.
Cities Skylines 2 is currently in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
