The rise of self-publishing and raising money via crowdfunding means developers don’t have to work with publishers to release their games. But one studio believes that traditional relationship could still be beneficial — with some tweaks.
In an interview with website GamesIndustry, Stardock Entertainment chief executive Brad Wardell talked about the advantages of the company’s hybrid publisher/developer model. In addition to making its own games, Stardock works with other independent studios to bring their ideas to the PC, handling the business end while creators focus on their projects. It also shares developers across teams if needed.
“What we’re looking at is, we want an equal system of independent studios we work with. These are artists we work with,” Wardell told GamesIndustry. “The old model like Electronic Arts, Activision, or Take-Two, they just own the studio. I don’t like that system. I’ve never liked it. Our model is, these guys are independent. They benefit. Their game is successful, their team becomes successful, and they have a lot more control.”
Stardock’s early claim to fame came from strategy games Galactic Civilization and Sins of a Solar Empire (serving as the publisher for the latter). Over the years, it diversified its business. First, Stardock launched the digital distribution platform Impulse — but the company didn’t stick with it for long.
Gaming retailer GameStop bought Impulse for an undisclosed amount of money in 2011. Wardell told GamesBeat writer Heather Newman that it sold Impulse partly because the “process had become increasingly corporate” and took time away from making games.
Above: Stardock CEO Brad Wardell in his office.
The disastrous launch of fantasy strategy game Elemental: War of Magic in 2010 forced the developers to rethink the future of the company. So they used the Impulse money to reshape Stardock and invest in other developers, starting with Oxide Games. Stardock co-founded Oxide Games with ex-Microsoft engineers to create a new engine specifically for large real-time strategy (RTS) games. The Nitrous Engine can push thousands of units on-screen at a time. Oxide is using it for its first game, Ashes of the Singularity.
The next developer to join was Civilization IV designer Soren Johnson’s Mohawk Games. Johnson had a hard time getting publisher support for his economic strategy game Offworld Trading Company, so he turned to Wardell for help.
“This is a game I wanted to make even before I got in the industry,” Johnson said to GamesBeat in January. “Something set around business and industry. Brad really liked the idea, and we knew we wanted to work together.”
Another studio that is benefiting from Stardock’s tutelage is the Allen, Texas-based Bonus XP. It’s made up of former Age of Empires developers like BonusXP CEO Dave Pottinger and chief designer Bruce Shelley. They’re working on Servo, a fast-paced RTS with giant mechs.
It’s quite an impressive lineup for a company that doesn’t really consider itself a publisher. Over the next year, Stardock will release six new games from its partners.
“So I think the old publishing model has died, where it’s just a bunch of suits and they’re doing marketing,” said Wardell to GamesIndustry. “It’s changed dramatically. The publisher of the future is really [a] whole partner.”
You can read the rest of Wardell’s recent interview here.