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Total Annihilation strategically (and exclusively) moving to Impulse
Stardock has announced that Total Annihilation, Chris Taylor's classic RTS, has arrived on its Impulse digital distribution platform. 10 bucks nets buyers the Impulse client-based version of TA, replete with the game's Core Contingency expansion and modernized multiplayer support. Stardock head Brad Wardell notes his love for the RTS in the release announcement, even going as far as saying, "Total Annihilation is personally one of my all-time favorite games." Additionally, while the game is currently claimed to be "exclusive" to Impulse, we have to imagine such a critically acclaimed PC title will end up on those other digital distribution platforms at some point in the future. Until that happens, you can pick up the game right here.
Random House publishing 'Elemental: Destiny's Embers,' assisting game publishers with IP dev
Software publisher Stardock and book publisher Random House announced today that Elemental: War of Magic will have a companion novel. Elemental: Destiny's Embers is expected to release in August 2010 and is written by Stardock CEO Brad Wardell, who is also the game's creator and executive producer -- he's also apparently not using a ghost writer. Elemental, the game, currently has a Q3 release. The book publishing deal is apparently part of Random House's new division to establish transmedia intellectual property. The group will handle collaboration and development across several mediums, offering "editorial services to media companies that will enhance the world-building and storylines of their already existing IP." So, it seems that Random House is offering to assist publishers in building words. "We create worlds." That's a good tagline -- wait, that may have been used.
Elemental: War of Magic casts release date toward Q3 2010
Stardock has confirmed that its PC turn-based strategy-RPG Elemental: War on Magic is strategically shifting its release to somewhere between July and September of 2010. Big Download reports, despite the continued presence of a February 15 release date on Impulse, that the game is escaping the jam-packed first quarter. What's a shame, really, is that the game will now miss the release date it's had since way back in November of 2008. It also means that Stardock may have to rethink its Q1 release strategy, which the company planned to stick with for a half-decade, and seemed completely logical, until 2010 changed the landscape of the once-barren land of Q1 video game releases. %Gallery-36057%
Impulse adds The Saboteur and more to online store
Look, we know you've been waiting with bated breath for all those Hearts of Iron 3 content packs to arrive on Impulse, so we were glad to tell you that they've finally arrived. Sure, so did The Saboteur and X-COM, but we know you're not concerned. We suppose it's possible you'll tire yourself out with the new Hears of Iron 3 content to the point that you'll need a break, so we should probably point out that a mess of other games made it onto Stardock's digital distribution platform this week. Being the good friends we are, we've dropped the whole list just after the break, just for you!
Alganon expands to Impulse distribution
Alganon isn't necessarily the darling of the MMO world at the moment, with a large number of people drawing conclusions about it before even setting foot in the game. So, really, more or less par for the course. But it has launched, it's developing its content, and it's clearly making moves to get itself noticed as something new and good. And if recent moves are any indications, one of the best ways to get yourself noticed is expanding on to the much-beloved digital distribution sources. The game has just been made available on the Impulse service, run by Stardock. Those of you with acute memories may recall that it wasn't so long ago that Alganon had an exclusive setup with Direct2Drive. However, expansion is always a good thing, especially for a smaller studio looking to improve their visibility. There's no word on any exclusive giveaways a la the plethora of Fallen Earth bonuses for different services, but that's all right -- it's good enough to know that if you have a want for the game, there are more ways to go about getting it.
Sins of a Solar Empire 'Trinity' set coming
Stardock has announced that an all-inclusive collection featuring its fab Windows-based 4X strategy title Sins of a Solar Empire, its first expansion, Entrenchment and the upcoming Diplomacy expansion will release on February 9 for $39.99. In addition to availability on Stardock's own Impulse digital distribution service, the set will make its way onto shelves across the US in something called a "box." Anyone who pre-orders Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity via Impulse will get instant access to the beta version of the Diplomacy expansion, which seems like a good strategy to us.
Stardock: Steam is top digital distribution earner, Impulse second
Stardock isn't a publicly traded company, though it strives to be as open as possible about its business. This is where the annual Stardock Customer Report (PDF link) comes in, an annual assessment of the company's financial situation. Stardock, a publisher of games such as Sins of a Solar Empire, is also behind digital distribution service Impulse, which boss Brad Wardell says is the second only to Valve's Steam platform in terms of revenue generation. "Our estimation is that Steam - as the current market leader - enjoys approximately 70 percent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 percent and all others combined at 20 percent in terms of actual dollars generated per month," Wardell explains. As Wardell estimates, 25 percent of PC platform sales will come from digital distribution channels during 2009's calendar year, so we're talking billions of dollars here. "Steam and Impulse both have the advantage of exclusive content (Left 4 Dead, Half-Life, Sins of a Solar Empire, Demigod, etc.)," he adds, but explains that Valve's strides in getting major publishers to sign on for Steamworks as a DRM solution (Dawn of War II, Modern Warfare 2) effectively nullifies those games' chances of appearing on Impulse. This is a big area where Impulse is missing out and even though it offers its own alternative -- Impulse Reactor -- the company already missed the boat on its share of the big, fat money-filled pie. [Via Gamasutra] Source - Stardock Customer Report 2009 (PDF)
Steam estimated at selling to 70% of PC market
Where did you buy your last MMO and where will you buy your next? Chances are you'll be getting it on Steam or so the story goes according to Brad Wardell, head honcho over at Stardock. We're inclined to agree with his assertion that Valve's digital distribution platform holds roughly 70% of the PC market as many of us here at Massively have been buying our MMOs -- and PC games in general -- on the service for some time now. So is it a good thing or a bad thing for MMO players? Our experience with purchasing games like Aion and Champions Online through the service has been positive, and so long as no complications arise via patches or other client issues we see no reason to stop utilizing the service unless better offers appear. The only real MMO-related issue we can see is with collector's editions. Some games offer a different set of bonus material for people who opt out of the physical copy and go for the digital, but certain items like art books, mouse pads and other bric-a-brac can't be delivered through a wire... at least, not until sometime in the far flung future. Now, as far as the Steamworks integration issue goes... Well, that's a whole other sack of fishes.
Labor Day 'Impulse' buy: Sins, Demigod and Dawn of Discovery on sale
With what we're told is the weekend of Labor Day ahead of us, an Impulse sale is trying to do its best to keep us indoors on this last unofficial weekend of summer. The Impulse store currently has some great titles at deep discounts.Stardock-published games Sins of a Solar Empire (with Entrenchment) and Demigod are both only $20. Meanwhile, the economic real-time strategy sim Dawn of Discovery is $25. There's plenty of other deals, including World of Goo for $10, so try not to spend those last fleeting days of summer inside. We dare you.[Via Big Download]
Sins of a Solar Empire 'Diplomacy' beta begins fall, releases winter 2010
The second micro-expansion for PC sleeper hit Sins of a Solar Empire will release in winter 2010. The Diplomacy add-on will increase the number of ambassadorial options to players in their conquest of the galaxy. You know, sometimes it helps to talk through the issues. Ironclad and Stardock plan to have a beta for the expansion this fall in order to work out any Vasarian bugs. Entrenchment and Diplomacy have both suffered delays while jumping into the digital distribution galaxy. A third micro-expansion for Sins was previously announced, so the full 4X RTS space opera experience should be completed sometime next year -- unless there are more delays, of course. %Gallery-15134%
What's in a Name: Stardock
In our ongoing feature What's in a Name, we ask developers, publishers and other game industry businesses the stories behind their names. Today our answer comes from Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock: "I was in college and started the company to help pay for school until I could get a real job. I needed to get a computer and got a hold of a wholesale distributor to get the parts to build it. When I called, they asked me what the name of the company was and in panic, I looked around and was reading a book by Raymond E. Feist and the chapter was called 'Stardock' so that's what I said the company's name was. It stuck and has been since." That's it for this edition, maybe next time, we'll tell you the mysterious story behind "Joystiq." It's ... mysterious.
Demigod bestows demo on the little people
Demigod has finally seen fit to grant a demo to the masses. Gas Powered Games' RTS now comes in a bite-sized offering, in which players have access to one map and four playable demigods (Regulus, Rook [pictured], Sedna and Lord Erebus). All gameplay modes are available in the demo.The Stardock-published title did have a shaky launch -- thanks to pirates -- but the company has since apologized for the overburdened server loads, and things seem to be in working order. Definitely worth checking out for RTS fans who only have time for short games.
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 issuing apology coupons for Demigod network issues
Demigod, the latest from Gas Powered Games, has had quite a rocky start since it launched in April. Its servers were first overrun with pirates and the network problems continued to persist into May. Stardock, the game's publisher, promised to dole out coupons to players as an apology for the poor network performance, and Big Download reports that customers are starting to receive them.The coupons will allow anyone to purchase the game for 50 percent off the standard $39.99 price. We're not quite sure how offering a discount to new customers amounts to an apology to current customers, but it's definitely better than nothing. We're sure it might also serve to help new customers take the plunge despite the reported issues.So, how about it, Demigod players, have you received your coupon yet? Did you manage to convince a friend to pick up the game? For that matter, have you stuck with the game despite its problems?[Via BD]
PC game developers foretell the death of DRM
If you were one of the many recruits in last year's war on restrictive, invasive DRM, you may want to check out a recent article on Gamasutra that features opinions on PC gaming piracy protection (that's a mouthful) from a number of gaming industry movers and shakers.The general sentiment of these interviewees is that DRM is extremely ineffective when it comes to preventing piracy, and that developers should either come up with alternate ways of ensuring the retail product is more valuable than the pirated product, or determine a different way to make money altogether (such as micro-transactions). For interesting insight from fine folks like 2D Boy's Ron Carmel and Stardock's Brad Wardell, we highly suggest checking out the full article. [Image]
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]
Broken promises, or 'How GameStop's error cost Stardock a vacation'
Stardock employees had their Easter weekend ruined by GameStop when the retailer decided to break street date on the Gas Powered Games-developed action RTS, Demigod. "We were looking forward to the weekend to recover," Stardock CEO Brad Wardell wrote on the publisher's official forum. "Instead, we found ourselves back at work having to turn on and configure the multiplayer matchmaking servers." Beyond losing vacation time, Wardell theorizes the early availability of Demigod will cause piracy of the copy protection-free title to be "maximized." But the outspoken (anti-intrusive DRM) exec says Demigod's early release may serve as proof of the actual effects of piracy. In response to GameStop's decision, Stardock released the game via its own digital distribution service, Impulse, a day early (on Monday). While Wardell wouldn't discuss speculation that GameStop intentionally released Demigod early to combat Stardock's digital distribution service, the CEO says Stardock is in talks with GameStop to find out "how this happened."[Via Gamasutra]
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.
