Pirates, spaceships, and ninjas have invaded the App Store before, but Stardock Corporation is hoping that its expertise in the PC strategy genre will translate into success on mobile.
Today, the PC publisher and developer revealed a new division, Stardock Mobile. Head of Stardock Entertainment Derek Paxton and senior producer Chris Bray will manage the day-to-day operations of the new branch. Its first title, Dead Man’s Draw [above], combines card games with pirates and comes out next month for iOS devices.
Stardock didn’t mention any Android releases.
“Our core team consists of incredibly talented and passionate people,” Bray said in a statement. “Stardock is known for great strategy games. The mobile games — though they will vary in genre — will always have an element of strategy in the gameplay. Thought-provoking, fun game experiences are what ignite our creativity at Stardock, and we look forward to continuing that same tradition with our mobile offerings.”
Two other games are in the works: Hero Busters, a side-scroller with knights and ninjas, and Star Trails, which looks like a strategy game set in space. Both are coming in early 2014.
Based in Plymouth, Mich., Stardock is best known for the strategy games Galactic Civilization (and its sequel), Fallen Enchantress, and Sins of a Solar Empire. It also made the digital distribution service Impulse on PC, which GameStop bought in 2011. At the time, the company said Impulse had 10 percent of the PC digital game delivery market, while its larger rival, Valve’s Steam service, had 70 percent. Impulse has since become GameStop PC Downloads.