brad-wardell
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Stardock hiring lots of devs, hints at upcoming projects
Stardock is hiring game developers, animators, artists and more. Some may find relocating to Plymouth, Michigan, a hardship (especially those first few winters), but a well-paying job's money goes further there than it would on one of the coasts. CEO Brad Wardell tells us the company is currently looking for "experienced" devs to work on: "Turn based fantasy strategy game" -- Likely, Elemental. "Real-time space strategy game" -- Speculation: More Sins of a Solar Empire, the diplomacy pack? "Party-based, single player, role playing game" "Real-time land-based strategy game" "Turn-based space strategy game" -- Likely, Galactic Civilizations III (but, could be Master of Orion or Star Control.) The more "technical" requirements can be found after the break. Resumes and cover letters should be sent to jobs[at]stardock[dawt]com. Best of luck to the applicants.
Stardock CEO: Retailers killing themselves with digital distribution
We're not exactly sure why Stardock CEO Brad Wardell is in the business of giving advice to retailers, considering his Impulse service is in direct competition with them. But that's exactly what he did when talking to GameBizBlog recently, saying that retailers a playing a dangerous game testing the digital distribution waters."Retailers need to be careful about this stuff," he said. "They're kind of signing their own death warrants once they push digital distribution at the store. Once you have the thing set up--once you've experienced how to purchase the game or deal with it online--why would I go back to the store for the next purchase? Especially if the store isn't providing added value. If you're a retailer, you're killing yourself."... You know, on second reading, that kind of sounds like a threat. Hold on, let us check again. ... Yep, that's a threat.[Via GoNintendo]
Demigod servers overrun with pirates at launch, better now
Demigod appears to have been a pirates' cove at launch, as Stardock CEO Brad Wardell explained on his blog a couple days ago: Out of the 120,000 connections on launch day, only 18,000 were legitimate customers (that's not sales, merely "concurrent users"). Obviously, this situation put quite a strain on the servers. He explained that Stardock stress tested for 50,000 players at peak times and wasn't expecting to hit those numbers for weeks.A letter from Stardock this morning notes that "most" launch day issues were resolved yesterday afternoon. A "doppleganger" of the network was created, along with an update for legitimate players, which now directs them to the clean servers. It's a pretty nasty situation for Stardock, which has actually put faith in gamers by not placing copy protection on its games. [Via Edge]
GDC09: Understanding what Stardock's Goo means to the used PC games market
Stardock's Game Object Obfuscation (Goo) sounds super complex (and it is), but all we -- "the consumer" -- need to grasp is that it could very well open up a "used" PC games market. Although this sounds like something that would make publishers and developers irate, the clever part with Goo is those groups actually make coin off the transactions. Stardock is still being cagey about which publishers it has jumping on-board with this client-free DRM solution, but should be making announcements soon. We finally grasped the big picture of Goo while speaking with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell and using the glasses on the table in front of us to diagram how the system will work:The super distilled basics (use picture above to follow along): Seller: So, you bought a PC game and now want to sell it. You go to the Impulse Marketplace and -- if you accept the "used" price -- your license will transfer back to the publisher and the game can't be played anymore. The game is "sold." Buyer: You want a game, but don't want to pay full price. You go to Impulse Marketplace and will be able to purchase this "used" license from the publisher through the service and download the game from the digital distribution service at a reduced price. That's it. Now you own the license and can sell it back whenever. Publisher: Here's why publishers will probably like this system: The companies receive almost all the money -- minus Stardock's transaction fee -- from the resold license. Essentially, the publishers get to sell the same license several times and have entered the profitable "used" games market. Goo will go live on April 7th. Considering this is all done through digital distribution, it's best to think of this whole concept as a "used license market" instead of a "used games market" -- there is no physical product changing hands. If Goo takes off, it means that consumers can get money for selling their PC games back to the publisher, and those who only buy "used" games have a secure new option. But, no matter what transaction occurs, the publishers are finally empowered and have cash flow in the used market.
GDC09: Stardock entering iPhone development, would 'like' to do GalCiv II
During a conversation with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell and Art Director Paul Boyer, the two -- against the express wishes of their PR handler -- brought up iPhone development at the company and the possibility of Galactic Civilizations II on the mobile platform. While Stardock's PR pro sat in a chair facepalming (image after the break), Wardell and Boyer discussed development for the mobile device, with Boyer saying he'd "really like" to do GalCiv II. Just to be clear, after we left, the PR lady had a stern talking with them ... beyond the iPhone stuff, it probably had something to do with the duo openly discussing the unannounced Galactic Civilizations III.
Stardock looking at Master of Orion, Star Control rights
Stardock keeps 4X strategy gamers' hearts aflutter with word that it's trying to get the rights to Star Control or Master of Orion. Of course, if the publisher can't get them, like what happened with its recent attempt for the Master of Magic rights, Stardock can always just circumvent and make its own franchise -- thus, Elemental: War of Magic was born.Stardock CEO Brad Wardell tells Gamasutra that the company would base its SC or MoO sequel off the second games in the respective franchises and not the poorly received third iterations. Wardell also confirms that Stardock is currently building a second full internal development team. Given the company's release strategy, whatever game it decides to do, we won't see it until 2011 or beyond.
Stardock sticking with Q1 release strategy for next half decade
Stardock just seems to "get it" when it comes to not putting any more burden on our time (or wallets) during the holiday season. The company's CEO, Brad Wardell, tells Gamasutra that the small publisher plans to release a title "every first quarter of every year" over the next five to six years. This way it can avoid the holiday glut, along with the marketing dollars required to stand out in the crowd.The Q1 release strategy, although not explicit up until now, seems to have worked well for the publisher. Galactic Civilizations II cut out a niche and Sins of a Solar Empire was a bona fide sleeper hit. We know that Gas Powered Games' Demigod is scheduled for February of next year and Stardock's internally developed Elemental is already slated for February of 2010. The publisher has its 2011 game already planned, but isn't announcing it yet.[Via Evil Avatar]
Stardock announces Elemental: War of Magic
Stardock, developers of the Galactic Civilization series, announced today that its next "major" PC title will be a fantasy 4X strategy game called Elemental: War of Magic. In classic Stardock bluntness, the company admits the subtitle is corny, but that it actually wanted something that was old-school and "generic." The title will essentially be a fantasy Civilization where magical shards provide power. The game will also include a single-player campaign and "persistent multiplayer."Elemental: WoM will begin its public beta in June of 2009, with a release in Feb. of 2010 for $50 (talk about ample notice). Like all Stardock titles, the game will have "no on-disk DRM" and will be updated through the company's Impulse digital distribution system. Early screenshots, giving an idea of Elemental's art style, can be viewed below. Stardock makes clear to point out that the images are still early and are likely to change over the next year and a half.[Via Big Download]%Gallery-36054%
Joystiq interview: Demigod, Sins, and the death of PC gaming
With publisher Stardock's rise the last couple of years and the announcement that it'll be publishing Gas Powered Games' next title, Demigod, it was time catch up with the two companies. We spoke with Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell and Gas Powered Games' founder Chris Taylor and asked some niggling questions on our minds ... and fired a few total shots in the dark which yielded results (like Demigod on consoles?). Find out more about Stardock and why Gas Powered Games decided to hook up with the little-publisher-that-could for its next title in our interview.OK, let's get right into it, what's Demigod?Chris Taylor - Demigod is a frantic team-based action game with RPG and RTS elements mixed in. If that doesn't sound familiar, it's because we're sort of inventing a new style of hybrid gameplay. The player selects a Demigod, and fights for a place in the pantheon of Gods in these incredible arenas. Each battle puts the player in command of either an Assassin Demigod, or General Demigod. These two types gives the player a choice of whether they command just the single Demigod, an Assassin, or whether they take command over every single unit in the game, like a traditional RTS, a General. %Gallery-19979%
Sins developer says not to blame pirates
It seems like many developers in recent months (with a few notable exceptions) have been trying to take an honest appraisal of the declines in sales PC game makers have seen across the board over the last half-decade. Piracy is the old boogeyman which, while it is still a serious plague on the industry, is far from being the lone culprit. A few weeks ago, Brad Wardell of Stardock, the publisher behind the spectacular Sins of the Solar Empire, posted a rant on his blog here he points to the fact that his company's game has risen to #1 on the PC sales charts despite having no piracy protection; proof positive that piracy isn't the lone factor in PC gaming's stagnation.Wardell offers a number of other explanations. For one, other developers are still too focused on the "cool factor" instead of profitability. A lot of times, it seems games are developed to garner magazine covers and not to make money. Many developers also develop games that are likely to be snapped up in China, where piracy usually cannibalizes most of their market share. (Thankfully, this is a factor MMOs are more resilient to, given the way they are monetized.) The other factor playing to the industry's disadvantage, he says, is that they're only just now realizing that developing games for hardware that next to nobody owns means that next to nobody will buy your game. (We're looking at you here, Age of Conan.) Some pretty interesting opinions from a guy succeeding just outside the mainstream.[Via GamePolitics]
