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Tis the season for giving and also for savings and indie games developer Arcen Games is giving folks a chance to save a bunch if they buy games from the company. From now until Wednesday, December 1 the developer has put the space strategy game AI War and its many expansion packs on sale for 60 percent off.

That includes the upcoming expansion pack Light of the Spire which you can pre-order for the 60 percent off price and also access the beta version immediately. The sale also covers Arcen Games' puzzle title Tidalis. Some of you may remember that earlier this year the developer was having some financial problems but those issues, at least for the moment, seem to be on the back burner.

The indie team at Arcen Games has officially released not one but two products today. One is a revamp of its space strategy game AI War Fleet Command while the other is an expansion pack for AI War. The revamp is officially called AI War 4.0 and it's a free upgrade for those gamers who have purchased the original title.

The new version contains a total graphic overall thanks to a switch to the Unity 3D engine. It also has remastered soundtracks, over 140 new ships, a new user interface, and lots more changes and improvements. It also adds support for the Mac OS.

The expansion pack, Children of Neinzul, adds another 36 new ships to the game along with other new content and features. As we previously reported, 100 percent of the profits from the expansion pack, which is priced at just $3.99, will go to the Child's Play charity.

Earlier this month, indie game developer Arcen Games announced that the company was in financial troubles due to lower than expected sales of its game last summer. Now PC Gamer's web site has gotten more info on the company's finances via an email from Arcen Games' founder Chris Park.

The note provides some insight as to both the revenues and the expenses that at least one indie developer has to deal with. In short, sales of the developer's space strategy game AI War were generating solid profits in 2009 and through April of 2010. However, revenues for the company went sharply down in the summer dispite the developer also releasing a new game, the puzzle title Tidalis. Park states that at the moment, "that leaves us with about $15k sitting in our bank account." compared to over $30,000 in the bank since last October.

In the meantime, the official Arcen Games web site has posted up some hopeful news, stating that after its call to arms earlier this month sales have picked up. The site also stated that the company itself is debt free and will still be around; the danger is that the four full time team members might have to find other jobs to support themselves. Finally the 4.0 version of AI War could be going into public beta testing later this week.

Download the AI War: Fleet Command Demo
Download Tidalis Demo (420 MB)
Download Tidalis Mac Demo (432 MB)

One of the more well known indie game developers, Arcen Games, has put out the word on its web site that it is currently dealing with some financial issues. In a post today on the company's official web site, company founder Chris Park announced that "if sales don't pick up then we run out of money sometime in November."

What happened? Park says sales of its space strategy game AI War: Fleet Command and its expansion pack have dropped down well below expectations over the summer months. Also the company's most recent game, the puzzle title Tidalis, "has sold only a few thousand copies so far, despite largely euphoric reviews and player response." according to Park. The company currently plans to re-launch AI War using the Unity 3D engine in October along with the previously announced AI War: Children of Neinzul expansion pack. Park says he still plans to donate the proceeds of the expansion pack to the Child's Play charity.

[Via Rock Paper Shotgun]

Download the AI War: Fleet Command Demo
Download Tidalis Demo (420 MB)
Download Tidalis Mac Demo (432 MB)

One of the best indie strategy games released in 2009 was the space-based game AI War from developer Arcen Games. Now the game has an expansion pack. Announced a few months ago, The Zenith Remnant is now available to purchase and download via the Arcen Games expansion pack. It's also available via the Steam and Impulse download services.

Priced at $9.95 the expansion adds over 120 new ships to the game. That includes 14 new ship classes and seven of the massive new Golem ships (you can see an example in the screenshot above). There are also new map types, new AI types and beheviors and more. If you own AI War you can download The Zenith Remnant and play it for a free trial period. Just so long as you don't download Poptropica instead.

The original AI War demo can be downloaded here or played via mygameIQ.

Download the AI War: Fleet Command Demo

A year has gone by, and we find ourselves once again looking at our family and wondering just what to get them for Christmas. While you can certainly get them such stellar titles as Dawn of War 2, you may want to shift your focus to some cheaper and more interesting games. For the price of three indie games, you can get one triple AAA title, and many of these games exceed the games put out by major studios. Excellent gameplay at a third of the price always sounds like a deal to us, and with massive sales going on in the spirit of Christmas, the deal is even sweeter. We have 15 indie games that we think you or someone you love will absolutely adore this holiday season, and most of them run around or under a $20 price tag. Take a glimpse at some of these titles, and see if you want to go back to the big budgets of more mainstream games. After all, every year indie gaming only gets better.

The PC downloadable site Gamersgate has already taken the liberty of announcing what games will get their discount for the current weekend. From now until Sunday, the historical strategy game Grand Age: Rome will be 50 percent off its usual GamersGate price. Also the space strategy game AI War: Fleet Command will have it's normal GamersGate price cut by 30 percent.

In additonn all of the games in the Gothic fantasy RPG series are 40 percent off at Gamersgate this weekend. And don't forget; the site has already announced a sale of all games from publisher Buka from now until Sunday with prices cut between 50 and 75 percent.