Sins of a Solar Empire sells 500,000 copies

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 5th 2008 at 12:00AM }

Stardock has revealed that its sleeper PC hit Sins of a Solar Empire has sold over half a million copies. The company's CEO Brad Wardell tells Gamasutra that 400,000 units were sold at retail, while 100,000 in sales came from digital downloads. Not bad for a full-bodied PC strategy game that cost less than a million dollars to make.

Wardell is certainly becoming an interesting character in the narrative of this industry, with relatively small publisher Stardock really stepping up. He explains part of Sins' success is that it was designed to run on a "four-year-old video card" and still look good. He says there might be a "piddly super-mega effect" that gets missed, but the result is more sales for the game, a strategy which sounds similar to Blizzard's take on being a PC developer. Sins' first mini-expansion, Entrenchment, will be available for $10 later this year.

[Via Big Download]

Tags: expansions, impulse, sins-of-a-solar-empire, stardock

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Sep 5th 2008 12:04AM

This game has no DRM, right?

That's what I though.

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Sep 5th 2008 12:05AM

*thought.

Edit button, Joystiq...please?

Zephiel @ Sep 5th 2008 12:19AM

Yes Sins has no DRM, which is almost as awesome as the game itself.

Einhanderkiller @ Sep 5th 2008 12:07AM

Stardock deserves it.

mutd1999 @ Sep 5th 2008 12:19AM

I agree 110%. Great job, Stardock.

FSK405K @ Sep 5th 2008 7:59AM

Unlike GalCiv and many lesser known games, Stardock is only the publisher/distributor of Sins. The developer is Ironclad Games, composed of former Barking Dog / Rockstar Vancouver employees who made Homeworld: Cataclysm.

mutd1999 @ Sep 5th 2008 12:18AM

I agree 110% with Einhanderkiller, great job Stardock.

mutd1999 @ Sep 5th 2008 12:20AM

.....wtf.....

Wiinterfang @ Sep 5th 2008 2:16AM

What the fuck O__O.

Edog Lost @ Sep 5th 2008 12:35AM

Glad to see a good PC game sell well.

mr bean @ Sep 5th 2008 1:37AM

Less than a million,eh? Never heard of it. lol.

BigD145 @ Sep 5th 2008 1:43AM

It's SPACE and there's no 3D movement? It could have just as easily been done on the surface of any planet. It's sharp and pretty, but a step backwards.

fischju @ Sep 5th 2008 2:30AM

Ships move in 3D by themselves, which is much easier than controlling that pesky third dimension manually. You can move the camera every way you could possibly want (from circling a single ship to seeing the entire system)

Also, in your face EA and DRM

TXAustin @ Sep 5th 2008 2:03AM

LOVE this game!!

Take that DRM!

Shirodx @ Sep 5th 2008 4:48AM

It's a good game. Chalangeing.
Good job Stardock.

PiratePete @ Sep 5th 2008 4:51AM

Good game. Challenging.
Good job Stardock.

xGeneral DEATHx @ Sep 5th 2008 3:21PM

Iz good game. I am changeling.
Die, Stardock!

Shirodx @ Sep 5th 2008 4:54AM

Ahem, I mean "Challenging".

Whoppy @ Sep 5th 2008 6:00AM

I love this game, I just don't understand why they took so long to release it in the EU. Hope the same isn't true of the coming update as it seems to fix a lot of the niggles I had with the game, and might bget me interested again.

Eggy @ Sep 5th 2008 6:57AM

Pretty good sales for a niche genre.

AwesomeTown @ Sep 5th 2008 7:22AM

I get into few strategy games these days, but I love Galactic Civ II and have been interesed in this game. I probably pick it up not just because I would probably enjoy it, but to support Stardock and everything their doing right.

J.Goodwin @ Sep 5th 2008 8:59AM

Space is flat anyway, duh. Galaxies are disc shaped, and solar systems are predominantly disc shaped as well, except the extremely unusual planet whose orbit is off axis.

Tez (PSN: Tezasaurus) @ Sep 5th 2008 10:21AM

Worst argument ever.

Diplomat @ Sep 5th 2008 2:14PM

I liked the game, especially considering it was so unexpected, so I'm happy for Stardock. I was however a little disappointed with how quickly the game seemed to repeat itself though. In an MMO, I don't think there'd be nearly as much repetition, especially if you could customize your units. If you liked Sins, you might want to check out Beyond Protocol.
http://www.BeyondProtocol.com