Stardock Entertainment, the company behind Galactic Civilizations, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Ashes of the Singularity, has announced an expansion of its publishing programme for independent game developers. However, it will only sign three titles per year.
US-based Stardock has over 30 years' experience in developing and publishing PC games. In recent years, the company has primarily focused on publishing its own titles, as well as those created by close partners such as Ironclad Games and Oxide Games. Building on its experience in marketing and publishing, Stardock is now looking to offer these capabilities to "promising new titles" from independent developers.
"Over the last few years, we have increasingly seen outstanding new games, after years of development, be released to silence," said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock Entertainment. "Making a great game is hard enough, let alone ensuring people know about it, ensuring it has a solid testing plan, providing good technical support for customers, delivering strong post-release development are just a few of the prerequisites for a successful title. And that is hard-won experience we have developed that we want to share with the next-generation of game developers. (...) What sets Stardock apart from other publishers is that we're a developer too. That means we can lend developer and art support to games before and after release."
To ensure that each published title receives the necessary resources, Stardock will only sign three titles per year. "The goal here is that players will know, if it's published by Stardock, it is going to be excellent," said Wardell. "We are looking to partner up with developers who are looking for an ongoing, long-term partnership." Any independent developers working on strategy, RPG or simulation titles who are interested can contact [email protected].
Stardock is particularly proud of Ashes of the Singularity II, developed by Oxide Games, and its demo. It emerged from the most recent Steam Next Fest as the top real-time strategy game, ranking among the top 1% of all Steam titles in terms of new wishlists and downloads. "That doesn't happen by accident," said Adrian Wright, General Manager of Oxide Games. "Stardock ran the entire marketing campaign, creator outreach, community management, store page strategy, all of it, while we stayed focused on making the game. That's what a good publishing partner does. They don't just distribute your game; they make sure the right people know it exists."
