stardock posts

Two years ago this month, developer Gas Powered Games and publisher Stardock released Demigod, a fantasy action-RTS game that got hit with multiplayer issues that made the game unplayable online for several weeks. However the game has retained a dedicated following and sequel plans have been hinted at for a while.

In a recent forum post, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell told forum members, "It's time to start thinking about (Demigod's) future." He asked questions like, "For a Demigod expansion, what would you do in that?" and "For a Demigod sequel, what would you do in that?". In a later post on the same thread, Wardell states, "Stardock is trying to determine its next-generation game lineup. A Demigod sequel is one possibility."

Stardock CEO Brad Wardell has been making the interview rounds on several web sites talking about the sale of its Impulse PC game download business to GameStop. Destructoid chatted with Wardell about how he sees the future of gaming in general and he seems very optimistic.

He states, "This is the greatest time in gaming since I've been into games. I mean think about the past, let's say, 18 months. If you'd look at the releases of interesting things, it's so cool!" He talks about how social gaming and handheld gaming have expanded but also mentions the PC exclusive title Minecraft. ""I mean look at Minecraft, right? Would Minecraft have been possible 5 years ago? This is the greatest time in gaming history, and we get to be part of it. And [...] the problem is I have a hard time sleeping because I don't want to miss anything!"

Last week developer Blind Mind Studios announced it would pull its space strategy game Star Ruler from being sold from the Impulse PC game download service. It said its decision was based on the feeling that Impulse's soon-to-be new owners Gamestop would not respect independent game developers.

While GameStop has yet to officially comment on the matter, Gamaustra got Brad Wardell, the head of Stardock and the soon-to-be former owner of Impulse, to comment. He states, "I was really surprised. By his own admission, Impulse is 25 percent of his (Blind Mind Studios) revenue."
He adds, "Impulse is going to continue to function as it has. If a developer wasn't paying attention to this, they wouldn't notice any difference. ... On one hand, they [say they] trust me, but they don't trust me enough to realize I vetted [GameStop]. Stardock didn't have to sell Impulse."

When Big Download spoke to Stardock's Brad Wardell last week about selling the Impulse part of the business to game retailer GameStop he told us that the sale was a win for PC gamers. But at least one indie game developer sees things differently.

Blind Mind Studios, the developers of the indie space strategy game Star Ruler, have announced on its web site that it will pull the game off of the Impulse service once Impulse is under GameStop's control. According to the statement, Blind Mind Studios is making this decision "due to GameStop's long, negative behavior toward the PC platform and independent games. We would never have signed onto distribution through GameStop, and being forced into this situation has only made it worse for us. We feel GameStop cannot serve as the leader of a true competitor in the digital distribution market."

The developer hopes that people who have already purchased the game on Impulse will continue to receive automatic updates. Big Download has emailed both Stardock and GameStop for comment.

[Thanks Blue's News]

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.

In a massive surprise announcement, game retailer GameStop has announced that it will be acquiring the Impulse PC game download service from Stardock. The purchase also includes the Impulse::Reactor game development tools and the Impulse::Publisher real time reporting and management tools. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in May.

GameStop also announced today it has acquired Spawn Labs, who until now were known as makers of a device that streams console games to a PC. GameStop says they will use Spawn Labs' technology to allow gamers to have "immediate access to a wide selection of high-definition video games on demand on any Internet-enabled device". Financial terms of both deals were not disclosed.

It's clear that GameStop is going after Valve's Steam PC game download business with its purchase of Impulse and with OnLive's streaming game business with the acquisition of Spawn Labs. We hope to learn more about these deals in the days and weeks ahead.

Sins of a Solar Empire developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock has now released the final, non-beta, 1.2 patch version of the 2008 space strategy game via Impulse. This new patch for the Trinity edition of the game (the original game plus the Entrenchment and Diplomacy micro-expansions) adds a lot of new and improved features.

The change log has all of the info on the patch including the new Pirate features, lots of gameplay balance changes, better memory usage for better performance and more. Remember that the next stand along game in the series, Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion, is already available for pre-orders at Impulse.

As promised, pre-orders for Sin of A Solar Empire Rebellion have now gone live on the Impulse web site. This allows folks to put their hard earned money down on the recently announced and upcoming space strategy game from developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock. The title, described as a stand alone expansion to the original game rather than a sequel, will cost $39.95.

However if you already own Sins of a Solar Empire you might be able to get a discount on Rebellion. In order to find out how much of a discount you can get you will have to head over to the official Sins of a Solar Empire web site and log in. You will be able to get a $10 discount if you are eligible. Also Rebellion pre-orders will also be able to play the beta version of the game when it becomes available.

Stardock has announced as part of GDC 2011 that its Impulse::Reactor game development tools will soon be able to support microtransactions for PC games. The new features will be added to the tools in an upcoming update for Impulse:Reactor's beta testers later this month.

The new features will allow any game developer who uses Impulse::Reactor to add support for microtransactions in the game without the need for a separate client software tool such as Valve's Steamworks. In a phone conversation with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell last week he told Big Download that Stardock would get 30 percent of all the revenues generated by games using the Impulse::Reactor microtransaction features.

So will any of Stardock's current and upcoming games use these new features? Stardock's PR head told us today, "Right now the migration has begun, but we'll be announcing which titles are ready when the time comes." Impulse::Reactor, originally scheduled to be made to all game developers in 2010, is now scheduled to be released in full in the summer of 2011.

Sins of a Solar Empire fans who have been waiting patiently for a new game in the space strategy series will be very happy today with this breaking news story. Developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock have officially revealed the next stand alone game in the series, Sins of a Solar Empir: Rebellion. Big Download got a chance to chat briefly with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell via phone last week to get the first few details on the game which is described as a stand alone expansion to the original title which was first released back in 2008 and was followed up with two small downloadable expansion packs, Entrenchment and Diplomacy.

Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion will continue Ironclad's mix of 4X turn-based strategy elements with real time strategy space combat, according to what Wardell told us last week. The biggest change in the game compared to previous installments is that there will be two separate factions that players can control; the Loyalists and the Rebels. Wardell told us that each faction will have their own distinct art style and tech trees that will make playing each faction a different experience.

In addition to the new factions, players can look forward to getting their hands on new ships to command including the truly massive Titan-class ships which Wardell told us are the equivalent to the Super Star Destroyer that the Empire uses in the Star Wars movies. The concept art for the Titan-class ship can be seen above this post. Look for other new ships to be added to the game as well. There will be no single player campaign in Rebellion, which is something that fans of the original Sins have been wanting for some time. Wardell told us that Stardock and Ironclad have wavered back and forth on adding such a feature for the game but ultimately decided against it.

While Ironclad and Stardock have not released in-game screenshots yet Wardell told us that Rebellion will have some graphical improvements for the original game's Iron Engine including better lighting and particle effects and support for larger maps. As with the original game and its two micro-expansions look for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion to have diplomatic features alongside the space combat, exploration and

While Wardell told us last week that Stardock's goal is to release Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion by the end of 2010 he added that both Stardock and Ironclad don't plan to release the game until its ready. Like previous games from Stardock, folks who pre-order the full game will gain free access to Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion's beta test builds. Also previous owners of the original Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity will get a discount when purchasing Rebellion. You can check out the full press release for the game after the jump.

Update: We've updated our article to reflect that the discount for Rebellion will apply to Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity owners