Star Ruler to be taken off Impulse in protest against GameStop takeover

by JC Fletcher on Apr 6th 2011 1:30PM

Not everyone is happy about GameStop's acquisition of Impulse. In a post on the official site for the space RTS Star Ruler, developer Blind Mind Studios announced that it would remove Star Ruler from the service when the takeover is enacted -- "likely some time in May," Blind Mind says.

"We are ending sales through Impulse due to GameStop's long, negative behavior toward the PC platform and independent games," the developer's statement reads. "We would never have signed onto distribution through GameStop, and being forced into this situation has only made it worse for us." Blind Mind notes that its history with Impulse has been positive to date, and, "We supported Brad Wardell's direction of Impulse." Wardell's absence "ruins our faith in the service's future."

The developer is working to ensure that updates and patches will continue to be delivered through Impulse to anyone who bought Star Ruler from the service. Barring that, it will release an automatic updater of its own.

Via: Big Download
Source: Blind Mind Studios

Tags: blind-mind-studios, gamestop, impulse, pc, star-ruler, stardock

Reader Comments (62)

They're right - Gamespot has been increasingly dismissive of PC games and PC gamers over the last decade, and they've never had any substantial support for independent games.

Of course, they may be acquiring Impulse to partially to rectify this - I don't want to castigate their running of it before they even start - but I suspect they'll continue business as usually, simply using it as a digital platform to continue their current business practices.

@Aerothorn Gamestop.
Although Gamespot is pretty dismissive of PC gamers too.

@Protome

Gets me every time.

Though it's true - in the staff exodus following the wake of Gerstmann-Gate, Gamespot's PC coverage really dropped in quality.

@Aerothorn

It gets me too. I had to reread the title a few times before Gamestop sunk in instead of Gamespot.

Blind Mind studios +1

I think I just found a new space RTS to play for awhile

Don't throw that baby out with the bath water!

@VeeDeeVee
Though I guess Stardock did that with these guys already.

*exasperated sigh*
Look guys, I appreciate the gesture, and I don't know about the rest of the world, but I don't know who you are or your game is, so this means very little (practically) to me. If this starts an exodus of the entire Stardock catalog, then good for you. A single game isn't going to do much, especially one I don't really know.

They don't like the company that's taking over the platform that their game is distributed on. What's wrong with expressing their feelings about that? Don't be a douche.

@ch3burashka

So you're saying that they should suck it up because you've never heard of their game? I'm not sure I understand your point.

@einhanderkiller And he's expressing his opinions about companies. He never once said anything about how they shouldn't be allowed to express themselves in whatever way they see fit. I don't agree with him, but he's certainly not a douche for having an opinion.

@ch3burashka
Excuse the hell out of me for not expressing myself properly. What they're doing is awesome - fighting the man, rah rah, all that stuff. As an individual action, it's admirable and good for the customer (based on past experience). What I was addressing was that this will have little to no effect on the current Stardock-Gamestop partnership, unless every other developer bites the poison pill and leaves as well. By saying, "who are they?" I was talking about how their relative obscurity won't affect the average gamesite reader as would, say, Sins of a Solar Empire or an Assassin's Creed title being pulled.

@ch3burashka

Which is fine. They are only voicing their own personal displeasure with the acquisition. They don't discuss starting any sort of movement, that's mostly been invented by the comments on here. Why do we need to over-exaggerate what they're doing?

@ch3burashka
I don't know who you are or your game is also!

You could at least wait until Gamestop enacts a policy to complain about their ongoing behavior towards PC games. Sure, they don't do much for retail PC, but now they seem like they are trying to do something for digital PC.

Give them a chance first.

@Lerkero

Yeah, I support Blind Mind's rebellion against GameStop's many flaws. But it seems like the purchase of Impulse is actually a step towards correcting the two major complaints that the developer raises. I'm not a GameStop fan, but this seems like an ironic situation to do the boycott.

@Lerkero

Nope. I worked for Gamestop as a store manager for many years and the company, as a whole, is antagonistic towards their customers. Sure, you can find some really awesome stores within the company, but keep in mind, those stores are being run by a manager that is doing everything they can to avoid following company doctrine.

Gamestop does not and never has cared about a customer. Sure, it's a business and it's purpose is to make money, but Gamestop is out of control. In my region, for example, the regional manager didn't allow stores to do midnight launches unless said store was within competition range of another company. Simply to damage the business of the other company. When Gamestop started feeling pressure from other companies about 5 yrs ago, did they try to make themselves better to attract customers? No, they BOUGHT every single competitor and shut most of them down.

I could go on, but it'd bore you all. My opinion, this move by Star Ruler is fantastic and I wish them all the best!

This is great. I'd love to see other indie devs follow suit.

im pretty sure pc gaming in general has been on a decline now anyhow, with obvious exceptions.

@bshido

Of course; that is why Gamestop is wasting their money investing on the PC Market. /s

Also; tell that to the 20% PC Gaming Market Boom from 2009 to 2010, the millions/billions of dollars PC Digital Download Stores are making, the millions of Steam users login everyday (and that is only Steam).

Yup, PC Gaming is dying. /s

FYI: The Console Market is decreasing....

@bshido

PC Gaming - Happily 'dying' since 1985.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265/RogueJedi86/1289605388572.png

@xiLeShadow where did you see this 20% increase? Link please. The "obvious exceptions" were basically steam and warcraft, guess i should've specified.
And gamestop is probably investing in furthering their digital downloads simply because they can't sell as many retail-boxed copies, I highly doubt it's because the pc gaming industry is booming.

@bshido
A Simple Google Search;

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/03/01/pc-gaming-alliance-report-shows-pc-gaming-market-booming/

or is Google Dying too?

@xiLeShadow wow, you sure are bitter. so, we were both correct.
Of course I could've googled it myself, but honestly I didn't care enough to. I knew you'd do it for me.

@bshido

haha..its a joke lol.

Nothing against you..XD

@bshido

This is very misconceived, ill-informed opinion. PC Gaming hasn't declined nor has PC Game sales. Simple fact is the because you can't trade in PC games, stores like Gamestop either carry very few or no PC games. Go into a BestBuy and their PC game section is as big as any other video game section. So are pc gamers buying from bestbuy? Nope. PC gaming has matured passed physical media and thanks most to technology like Bit Torrent, gone to digital download. Whether you're using Steam or you're downloading it directly from the publisher, odds are you're using bit torrent technology to get more then 300kps. ;)

I miss the day when people played games. Games that didn't have drama riding their backs.

The Rebel Alliance (Indies) vs the Empire (GameStop)

This makes no sense to me. It seems like Gamestop is in some way trying to make some kind of stir in the PC area. Pulling your game from impulse only means Gamestop STILL ISN'T SUPPORTING YOUR TITLE.

It's counter-intuitive.

@Che J P

Well I hadn't heard of them or their game. Now I have. Effective yes?

@Che J P

It's because of the Cataclysm launch. Gamestop's sales of Cataclysm were nothing like Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. Why? Because most people bought Cataclysm digitally.

@SirUrza

Or, as the case is in Canada, WoW players simply bought Cataclysm at B&M stores that weren't EB Games/Gamestop. There are 3 EB Games locations within 15 minutes of where I live. Each was selling Cataclysm for $49.99, $10 above the MSRP. Best Buy, Futureshop, Walmart, and even The Source were selling the expansion for $39.99. Those stores had relatively empty shelves when the expansion came out; EB Games/Gamestop had dozens of copies lined up on the wall that they couldn't and STILL can't get rid of.

@jackal Must be a canada thing then, everywhere here in the US, including GameStop was selling it for $39.99.

@SirUrza

In Ottawa (where I live), EB Games and Gamestop routinely charge $4-$10 more for games than their competitors do (the exception is HMV, since their relatively crappy pricing seems to match Gamestop's). Let's say you wanted to buy Splatterhouse at launch (not that you would, but it's the most recent example I have). At Gamestop/EB Games, it was $64.99; it was $59.99 everywhere else. Fable III? $69.99 at GameStop, $59.99 elsewhere. Vanquish? $64.99 at EB Games, $59.99 elsewhere. Given how close to par the CAD is to the USD (and has been for the better part of 4 years), there's really isn't a reason for the company to markup the games sitting on its store shelves other than greed.

They also rarely lower their prices on older games and, when they do, it isn't by all that much.

I am fully in support of these guys, GameSh** began causing the demise of PC gaming when it saw it could make more money of consoles due to trades of the systems. They began the decline of PC gaming and I will not be buying games on Impulse once it is in ownership of GameSh**. In the mean time I think I will buy this game, looks interesting and the people behind it seem pretty smart.

@Firrae

Are you posting from a Library?

GameShhhhhhh

@Acosta02
Haha, brilliant.

[stands up]

:: clap...................................., clap........................, clap..................., clap...........,clap.........,clap...,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap ::

For people who don't understand this move, let me explain it to you.

For years now (probably close to a decade), GameStop has increasingly turned its back on the PC gaming market - both the gamers who went to the store to find new PC titles as well as the developers and publishers who fought for shelf space. This was one of the main reasons why Valve decided to transform Steam past just a DRM tool and activation mechanism into a full fledged marketplace - PC games didn't need to fight for shelf space, and all of them (even old titles dating back many years) could be sold just as easily as newer properties.

Now, GameStop realizes its colossal mistake - that they not only ignored a still relatively healthy PC market, but basically told them to "Get lost." Nobody downloads games digitally from their website because it's by far the worst option (in terms of price and features), so they feel compelled to buy into the market with Impulse, the #2 established brand behind Steam. Weekend impulse sales will probably be reduced to $5 off if they remain at all. Gamestop has no interest in giving PC gamers excellent deals on digital titles.

This is the same situation Blockbuster found itself in, although they decided to build their own online/mail rental service that tied back into their business instead of buying a lagging brand. People got just of sick of Blockbuster's limited movie availability, prices, and inconvenience that they just moved to Netflix en masse and never looked back.

@Admodieus

Assuming Gamestop botches the acquisition of Impulse and they remove every compelling reason to use the service (which I fully anticipate them doing), people will simply quit using the service for anything but Stardock developed games in favor of Steam, D2D, and GoG. Those services already offer exclusive pre-order bonuses, relatively hassle free DRM (or, in GoG's case, no DRM), and offer extensive game catalogs. Steam's well known for it's insane holiday sales, and both D2D as well as GoG tend to offer relatively sizable discounts on a regularly basis. If Gamestop guts Impulse in the way we all fear it will, the store will be relegated to the same digital distribution no man's land that GFWL is; people will still use it, but only when they absolutely have to. Of course, there's always the incredibly rare possibility that Gamestop will realize just how large the relatively untapped well of PC gaming is and the company would manage Impulse accordingly.

@Admodieus
You make good points, but remember, Amazon.com is in the position to give such good deals because they own so much of the market that they can afford many loss leaders.

I think Steam is the same as Amazon. A quality service that owns so much of the market that cheap deals come often. If you compare Steam to other digital stores like XBL, PSN, and Games for Windows the deals in those places aren't as nice.

When I see this purchase by Gamestop I imagine that they will somehow tie their retail store with the digital store (edge card, etc) and come up with new incentives. This is just a guess though, so corporate decisions may come up with some stupid strategy to try gouge the digital market (they'd be REALLY stupid to do that against Steam, but corporate decisions are frequently stupid).

I don't understand how Gamestop aided the decline of PC games. I go into my Gamestop and they have a PC section. Nobody buys anything PC, but that hardly seems like the retailers fault.

@Kashmeer
Retail PC gaming was dying anyways. In every country I visited between 2000-2005 I noticed a slow decline in shelf space for PC titles. Gamestop or no Gamestop... PC gaming moved to piracy, then to legal digital distribution platforms.

What I imagine is somebody wrote an article on this subject in America, everyone believed it and that Gamespot was evil and the cause of cancer. That's usually what happens to people who don't travel.

@Kashmeer there's not a gamestop within 300miles of where I live that has a PC section. They ditched those years ago.

@VeeDeeVee I would have to disagree a little here, in 2008 I was in Germany and went to a MediaMart and their PC section was aisles and aisles instead of one rack hidden in the corner of the store like Gamestop. Ever since Gamestop bought out all the EBs, the PC section in all their stores has shrunk considerably to the point that I started getting PC games from Amazon and Best Buy instead.

@Kashmeer

Well, they marginalize it as much as they can. While your Gamestop may have a little section, others don't stock any PC games... Most PC gamers could care less about this, as they have other ways of getting their products and they can be from outlets who actually want their business and support the industry.

Their contribution is thus:
The most profitable part of their business is second hand sales, The PC doesn't really accommodate this business model. Therefore, they'd rather stock the shelves with something they can sell 3 times over as opposed to PC titles which give them as much as any other retail, non-used game. They'd love to see the PC disappear, as would others. This would only help their (current) business model of second hand sales...they can keep dreaming though, if history is any indicator their hopes are far fetched.

@Cranky Penguin
Oh Germany really is the exception. Even in places like Sweden where I expected to see plenty of PC games - I didn't.

The total list is;
Sweden, Norway, Japan, Australia, NZ, Egypt, too many South American countries to list, Spain, France.

During those years the UK PC market held on, Germanys was fine (they don't seem to like consoles there! None of my relatives there, even ones from the UK that moved have any consoles whatsoever! All PC).
Slovakia too. They stood by PC.

@Kashmeer
They have a "PC" section as much as they have a closet for the brooms and mop. GS Stores never pay attention to either.

Have you SEEN the PC section? You'd find Blizzard's games and MAYBE some Sims stuff. That's it. I really don't consider a crappy little shelf off the corner of the store a "PC section".

So, as a non-American can I just get some clarification.

Gamestop are apparently evil. They tried to kill of PC gaming.
They realise their mistake and buy out the 2nd biggest digital distribution platform.

I don't know about you lot but it sounds to me like they want to get back into the market and do "well by it" by the sound of things. But I'm not a jaded Yank.

But last time I checked Impulse makes around 70% of the sales the last game I worked on got, compared to Steam. I don't think many indie developers out there are going to follow this, just the rich ones. And even then they'd have to be pretty pedantic.

I don't understand why so many people attribute declining pc sales with Gamestop. I can say from experience that a lot of people prefer console to pc due to lower upkeep and hassle. Sure, pc is the superior platform, but it requires constant maintenance and upkeep. People are lazy - they much prefer to invest in something where they know it'll run any games (barring the occasional crap game filled with bugs) they put in it.

Does the lack of pc games at -all- stores suck? Of course. But I really think it's a result of the industry changing more than a giant scheme. I'm happy about this news, personally.

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Star Ruler

Star Ruler to be taken off Impulse in protest against GameStop takeover

Reader Comments (62)

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:34PM Aerothorn said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:41PM Protome said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:16PM Aerothorn said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 10:36PM TaintedKane said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:35PM ansalon929 said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:39PM VeeDeeVee said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:47PM VeeDeeVee said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:41PM ch3burashka said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:49PM einhanderkiller said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:58PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:03PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:23PM ch3burashka said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:59PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 7:27PM gevenstaines said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:44PM Lerkero said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:15PM CommanderCool said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:04PM Slippyblade said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:56PM Startingline13 ArmlessOctopus said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 1:56PM bshido said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:26PM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:53PM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:58PM bshido said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:27PM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:54PM bshido said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 4:03PM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 5:36PM SirUrza said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:02PM ColorblindMonk said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:02PM The Cole Train said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:03PM Che J P said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:13PM iHavePants said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 5:38PM SirUrza said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 6:05PM jackal said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 7:22PM SirUrza said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 9:00PM jackal said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:04PM Firrae said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:16PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:50PM VeeDeeVee said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:13PM SayWhut said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:18PM Admodieus said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 6:00PM jackal said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 6:09PM Lerkero said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:41PM Kashmeer said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:57PM VeeDeeVee said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:20PM lostmongoose said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:24PM Cranky Penguin said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:25PM Draugdraugr said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:44PM VeeDeeVee said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 5:36PM PointlessPuppies said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 2:53PM VeeDeeVee said

Posted: Apr 6th 2011 3:40PM JanusZeal said

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