Paranoiais a sci-fi tabletop role-playing game first published in 1984 and written by Greg Costikyan, Dan Gelber, and Eric Goldberg. Set in a dystopian universe, the award-winning RPG has spawned spin-off comics, novels, and video games, the latest of which is calledParanoia: Happiness Is Mandatory.It briefly appeared as anEpic Games Store exclusivein December 2019 before being delisted without explanation.
The game was published by Nacon, formerly known as Bigben Interactive, a name that might be familiar due to the company’s ongoing court cases with developer Frogwares, the studio behindSherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughterand Lovecraftian horror titleThe Sinking City.Among other contractual disputes,Frogwaresalleges that Nacon piratedThe Sinking Cityand uploaded it to Steamto sell without the developer’s permission. Court documents filed in October 2021 by Nacon and a counterclaim byParanoiacreators Costikyan and Goldberg reveal that the publisher is in the midst of a legal dispute with another group as well. Gamekult, a French gaming news outlet, tracked down Costikyan and Goldberg’s court filings but not those of Nacon. So the story is slightly one-sided, but still enlightening.
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In 2016, Costikyan and Goldberg signed a contract with development studio Cyanide, owned by Nacon, to createParanoia: Happiness Is Mandatory,avideo game adaptationofParanoia.The two writers retained the right to review the game before publishing, but by August 2019, Costikyan and Goldberg had not yet received a copy for review. Despite this, according to documents filed by the writers, Nacon wanted to announce an October 3 release date.The two writers refused to give their approval, but the publisher put out a press release anyway.
After the release date announcement, Costikyan and Goldberg received a copy of the game, which they felt was so full of bugs that it would tarnish theParanoiabrand if it were released. They provided a list of 74 bugs, including poorly implemented quests, scripts that triggered late or incorrectly, and balancing issues. Nacon capitulated and changed the release date to November 14, again making the announcement without the approval of the two rights holders.
In October, Costikyan and Goldberg received another copy of the game, which they found still unfit for publication. Nevertheless, allegedly without first notifying the two writers, Nacon releasedParanoia: Happiness Is Mandatoryin December 2019 as an Epic Games Store exclusive. According to their suit, the two rights holders immediately demanded thatNacon delist the game, which the publisher refused to do. Costikyan and Goldberg then filed a DMCA complaint with Epic Games, and the game was removed from the site on June 01, 2025.
Naconfiled suit against Costikyan and Goldberg in October 2021 for havingParanoia: Happiness Is Mandatorydelisted. The twoParanoiacreators filed an answer to the complaint and a counterclaim against the publisher on Jul 07, 2025, for multiple breaches of contract. The court case is ongoing.
Paranoia: Happiness Is Mandatoryis currently delisted and not available for purchase.
