Here at Stardock, we take Halloween pretty seriously. It’s one of my favorite times of the year - I love seeing my coworkers’ creativity on full display! Our costume contest and Halloween luncheon are long standing traditions that I am always happy to enthusiastically participate in. This year was particularly silly for me because I overheard a few coworkers deciding to go as a herd of velociraptors. I decided that Robert Muldoon - famously known for his “Clever girl...
What a week! Everyone has been so excited to get a first peek at what we’re working on with Sins of a Solar Empire II . If you’ve tried out our Technical Preview already, we definitely hope you’re enjoying it and we want to assure you: there is so much more to come. The technical preview is Sins II in its very earliest stages and is meant to get feedback from you guys on directions you’d like to see us move with it. One of the cornerstones of Stardock has been ...
Group shot of our wagon ride It’s autumn in Michigan, and that means it’s cider mill season! This week, we took our annual trip out to Three Cedars Farm and enjoyed each other’s company while we got lost in the corn maze, huddled up around the fire, ate donuts, and - of course - drank cider. We’ve had a bit of rain this week, which made the footing in the corn maze precarious at best. While I am normally determined to finish a challenge set in front of m...
It’s that time of year again: our annual publisher sale on Steam starts today and runs through October 13th! You can save up to 75% off on our games, expansions, DLC, and software. I want to highlight a few of my favorites - and some fan favorites, too! - in case you were wondering where to start. Offworld Trading Company I am probably the furthest from a financial mind as you can get, but Offworld Trading Company at least lets me pretend that I have...
A couple of weeks ago, my colleagues and I breathed a collective sigh of relief as we finally got to share some news we’d all had to keep quiet for entirely too long: Sins of a Solar Empire II is finally happening. While I am no stranger to NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) at this point, this particular secret had a weight unlike anything else I’ve ever carried in my 7 years here at Stardock. This was big. This was huge. This was something we truly wanted to be a special ...
While bidding farewell to summer is always bittersweet, we do enjoy the autumn season here at Stardock. Yesterday, we decided to usher it in with style by throwing an “end of summer” BBQ in our cafe! At the BBQ, we had a chance to relax and eat food that was lovingly prepared by our incredible operations team! They started cooking at 10:30am so we'd all have enough food ready to eat by noon. We are so lucky to have them; I adore the “Grill Dad” energy that is...
In case you missed it last week - and with all the hype and hullabaloo I’m not sure how you could have! - we officially announced Sins of a Solar Empire II. We are so excited to be working with our friends over at Ironclad Games again after so many years! Following in the footsteps of its critically acclaimed predecessor, this highly anticipated sequel will seamlessly blend real-time strategy and 4X gameplay to deliver a grand space conflict equal parts immersive and intense, while i...
One of the things I have been doing nearly since I started at Stardock is receiving and sorting through emails that come to our marketing and media accounts. We get several key requests every week, and something I learned very early on was that not every one of them is legitimate. People will often pose as media outlets or Steam curators in hopes you’ll send them a key, which then soon appears on resale sites. I’m sure it goes without saying, but these kinds o...
Space has long fascinated us here at Stardock. We built our name up on space strategy games with Galactic Civilizations and have continued to do so over the years with games like Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation and Offworld Trading Company . In many ways, space is at the core of what we do. Screenshot from Galactic Civilizations IV Whenever space related news comes across my feed, I find myself immediately drawn to reading about it. While missions to Mars will al...
One of the benefits of working with a bunch of people who love games as much as you do is that you’re never short on takers for a game night! We try to do these once a month or so here at the office as time permits, and it’s always a good excuse for us to unwind together after a long work day and just enjoy each other’s company. The biggest challenge of game nights here is finding games that can accommodate larger groups of people. Our turnouts are so big that it&r...
They were on their own. Jenna Casey and the rest of the humans who would eventually be known as the Terran Resistance were not on Earth when the Precursor Shield was erected to protect them all from the Drengin. Abandoned by their people and with nothing but a few ships and their own wit to sustain them, the Terran Resistance wandered the galaxy for many years avoiding the Drengin and their other enemies. Finally, fortune favored them with a safe refuge near the far rim of the ...
Whenever you think of spies your mind might go to this guy: Or, some variant thereof, anyway (which Bond is “your” Bond?). Generally, most people don’t visualize sentient worm creatures when they hear the word “spy,” but I’m here to tell you that, when it comes to Galactic Civilizations IV, we sure do! The Onyx Hive is a technologically sophisticated worm-like species that originated around the volcanic vents of their homeworld. Their society run...
If you’ve spent any amount of time playing the Galactic Civilizations series, you probably recognize these guys: The Drengin have a long and terrifying history within the game series. Known especially for their cruelty, these galactic tyrants aren’t exactly beloved by the local population. However, the local population is beloved by the Drengin…and I do mean that in the most twisted sort of way possible. Throughout centuries of conquering worl...
In case you weren’t aware, Stardock has been around for a minute or two. And by “a minute or two,” I mean since 1991! Throughout the years, we have made tons of software and plenty of games. It’s true that as time goes on and technology improves, games become outdated - but that doesn’t mean they’re not still enjoyable. I personally go back and play 1990’s T he Secret of Monkey Island all the time and it still brings me the same amount of joy ...
At this point it should be no secret, but we love dogs here at Stardock. Honestly, we don’t discriminate; we pretty much love all animals, and the ecosystem surrounding our office is inhabited by feral kitties, geese, snapping turtles, groundhogs, and dozens of other critters that we do our best to live peacefully with. Still, there’s nothing quite like the wag of a dog’s tail or the excitement they exude when you walk through the door. A few months back, we al...