brad-wardell posts

One of the many big news stories today was the reveal that game retailer GameStop will be acquiring the Impulse PC game download business from Stardock. Today Big Download and our sister site Joystiq got a chance to chat with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell to find out more about the newly revealed deal.

Wardell told us that the idea of selling Impulse began when it became clear that the download service was generating more and more revenue for Stardock. He told us that he did not have any desires to run a larger company and as such the deal with GameStop to sell off the Impulse business came at a good time. Wardell told the deal is a win for PC gamers as a whole as GameStop is moving more and more aggressively into the PC game download business.

While specifics of the deal were not disclosed Wardell did say that all of Stardock's Impulse team members would now be GameStop employees. He also said that Impulse and its team members would be moving in the coming months out of Stardock's offices in Plymouth, Michigan to GameStop's headquarters in Dallas, Texas. There will not be any layoffs at Stardock due to this deal, according to Wardell. He also told us that for the foreseeable future all of Stardock's internal and third party games would continue to be released exclusively via Impulse under the new GameStop owners.

The Impulse web site has also posted up an FAQ page answering common questions about the GameStop acquisition. For Impulse account holders, the FAQ page states, "There will be no disruption in service to existing or newly created accounts. Impulse will continue to function as normal for existing and new customers. Your current purchases will continue to be available through Impulse, Inc. "

Finally Wardell said the Impulse acquisition by GameStop was indeed one of the three major announcements that he hinted at in Stardock's recent public report that would be made this year. He would not comment at all on what the other two announcements would be like.

Stardock CEO Brad Wardell has posted more info about the company's layoffs that were first revealed late on Friday due to the poor launch of its turn-based strategy game Elemental. In a message board post on the game's official web site he names seven team members by their job descriptions as the ones that were laid off this week: "A DB manager, A receptionist, A QA tester, a developer, a designer, a sales executive and a web designer." Wardell admits, " I wish I could say this was going to be the end of it but it isn't and everyone here at work nows (sic) it and it sucks."

In a later post on the same message board thread, Wardell disputes a report on our sister site Joystiq (since edited) that came from an unnamed source. The source stated part of the reason for the layoffs was due to, "Stardock's inability to pay back the capital investors that funded Elemental's development." In his message post Wardell stated, "This is really bizarre on many levels. I wasn't aware that Stardock had investors (outside of me) and have to wonder what this 'source' thinks paid for Elemental in the first place (oh wait, the 'investors')." In a direct response to Joystiq's post Wardell states that due to the bug-filled released of Elemental, "we will need to change the way we do QA on major new releases as well as how we handle our own betas."

If you're a real-time strategy fan and haven't gotten around to picking up Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity (aka Diplomacy), then this gameplay walkthrough presentation will show you everything you're missing out on. Divided into four parts, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell explains each of the new features Diplomacy brings to Sins. The introduction video is shown above and the rest can be seen after the jump.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity is available for purchase now on Impulse. Those who already own the base game and the Entrenchment micro-expansion also have the option of purchasing Diplomacy by itself. A playable demo for the original Sins of a Solar Empire can be downloaded here.

Read the Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Review
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 1 (9 MB)
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 2 (91 MB)
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 3 (75 MB)
Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity Walkthrough, Part 4 (37 MB)
Download the Sins of a Solar Empire Demo (536 MB)
Check out all Sins of a Solar Empire downloads

This silent gameplay video for Diplomacy, the second (and final) micro-expansion for Sins of a Solar Empire, shows a frantic battle as a starbase comes under attack. Features included in the micro-expansion are new technologies, Trade Pacts for resource boosts, and the ability to create and issue missions to other factions and players. Also, let's not forget that Diplomacy will bring tougher and meaner space pirates into the picture. Sins of a Solar Empire - Diplomacy releases on February 9 as a stand-alone purchase or as part of Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity, which includes the core game along with the Diplomacy and Entrenchment expansions.

Those looking for for more information on how Diplomacy changes gameplay in Sins can check out a the forum post from Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell.

A playable demo for Sins of a Solar Empire can be downloaded here.

Download HD Sins of a Solar Empire - Diplomacy Gameplay Video (31 MB)
Download the Sins of a Solar Empire Demo (536 MB)

As always, the development process and features of Stardock's Elemental is being laid bare. In a personal blog post, CEO Brad Wardell discussed more about the game, including some elements (pun unintended) that are of great interest to those looking forward to the fantasy 4X game. The February 15th, 2010 release date simply can't come fast enough for us!

Some of the things discussed include what channelers are and how custom-made content is being integrated into the game. Channelers are very interesting, as they act as a mix between hardcore wizard and a settler from other games. Able to imbue both units and the landscape with magic, they are a vital resource to your growing empire. As well as this discussion on channelers (which takes up almost half the blog post!), there's the issue of mod creation, which appears to be using a system similar to GalCiv 2. Finally, The old economy discussion was briefly revisited, with the answer boiling down to "we'll see how testers like it."

It seems that Brad Wardell is dedicated to the transparency that has earned him a name amongst gamers as an honest and thought-provoking CEO. Having recently explained just how Demigod fell on its face and what they were doing to improve it, he moved seamlessly into discussing different economic models for the new 4X/RPG game Elemental being released by Stardock. It's a fascinating read, especially since it involves asking the community for ideas! It's rare that developers are this active with their intended audience, which makes the ability to change how the game plays in drastic ways with suggestions all the sweeter.

For those interested in making their voices heard, you can visit the official forums to put your two cents into the discussion! Elemental: War Of Magic is scheduled for a February 2010 release date, with a beta planned for any time now.

[Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Your daily wrap-up of the hottest stories in PC gaming in the last 24 hours.

	Big Download Interview: Stardock CEO Brad Wardell Is PC gaming dead? Not if Stardock and its CEO Brad Wardell have anything to say about it. The company has developed and published its own games like the Galactic Civilizations and Political Machine series but has also been an online and retail publisher on a large number of third party games. Last February, Stardock and developer Ironclad Games shocked the industry with the sales success of Sins of a Solar Empire. The space strategy title got great reviews as expected but no one expected the game to be a huge sales success as well, staying on the NPD Group's top 10 sales list for PC game software for over three months straight.
	New Velvet Assassin screenshots get to the point There's nothing quite like like a lady with a gun. That's our opinion anyway. So we are all set to give Velvet Assassin a try when it is released this fall from developer Replay Studios and publisher Gamecock. The new screenshots for this WWII stealth action game show off your main character doing what she does best; taking out Nazi scum.
	New Dead Space screenshots get scarier You get no sound in space which means no one can hear you . . you know. Electronic Arts hopes to hear the sound of good reviews and solid sales for Dead Space, their upcoming first entry in the survival horror genre. The publisher just sent out some new screenshots showing off more of the horror and gore that can be expected in the title.
	New Legendary screenshots attack with force The upcoming first person shooter Legendary was originally titled Pandora and then called Legendary: The Box before developer Spark Unlimited finally settled on its current name. We bring this up as an excuse to show off the latest screenshots from the title that will be published this fall from Gamecock.

Is PC gaming dead? Not if Stardock and its CEO Brad Wardell have anything to say about it. The company has developed and published its own games like the Galactic Civilizations and Political Machine series but has also been an online and retail publisher on a large number of third party games. Last February, Stardock and developer Ironclad Games shocked the industry with the sales success of Sins of a Solar Empire. The space strategy title got great reviews as expected but no one expected the game to be a huge sales success as well, staying on the NPD Group's top 10 sales list for PC game software for over three months straight.

But that;s not all Stardock is doing. Their just released 2008 update to The Political Machine also has the debut of Impulse, the company's new digital download service for games that's also aiming to simplify how PC gamers install and play games in general. The company already has agreements in place with Epic Games, THQ and other developers and publishers to use their platform.

Big Download got a chance to ask Wardell a number of Stardock related questions, including some updates for Sins, their plans for Impulse, The Political Machine 2008, and some hints about Stardock's future game plans.

Stardock has announced the debut of Impulse, a new digital distribution platform that features games and applications for PC developers and users.

Brad Wardell, Stardock Corp. CEO and president, stressed that Impulse is more than another digital distribution service. "Impulse is a platform first, a store second," he said. "Our primary objective with Impulse is to address the issues users have with their Windows experience today. That includes being able to boot up a new PC, install Impulse, and then be able to press a button and have it install all of your software and games with one click."

To that end, Wardell said that Stardock has been collaborating with "major PC game publishers and software developers" to ensure that the Impulse library is as diverse and full as possible. Recognizable names include Epic Games, THQ, AVG, iolo, Gas Powered Games, Hothead Games, Ironclad Games, and Meridian4, among many others.

It seems everyone is talking about the state of PC gaming nowadays. Hey, at least people are talking about it. The latest opinions come from Stardock head Brad Wardell and Gas Powered Games head Chris Taylor. In a new chat with our sister site Joystiq about their upcoming RTS title Demigod, the two developers gives their views on the state of the industry and its future.

While Wardell contends that the current PC gaming industry is "broken" but that Stardock is planning to become one of the major PC game publishers in five years and the largest digital distributor of PC content (we think Valve and Steam might have something to say about that). And while Wardell jokes that PC gaming is dying (as a ploy to have them grab the market to themselves), Taylor's more serious answer is that the industry is changing and that Wardell's system of copyright protection free software and regular updates will be the future of PC gaming. With the sales success of Stardock's Sins of a Solar Empire (developed by Ironclad Games), they might be onto something.