Piracy. It's an dark cloud that prompts many companies to employ draconian measures like DRM or electric shocks (coming soon to a game near you!). One notable exception is Michigan-headquartered Stardock, which refuses to include copy protection in its games, a policy that interestingly hasn't kept its most recent release, Sins of a Solar Empire, from putting up respectable numbers both online and at retail.

As Stardock CEO Brad Wardell explains it, piracy is an issue that "has to be kept in perspective," and in a recent Big Download interview he further played the common sense card, stating that "the people who actually buy games don't want to be inconvenienced or treated like a criminal." Wardell adds that while Sins "definitely" would have sold more had piracy not been an issue, "everyone who buys games knows they could easily have gone out and stolen it if they wanted to." It's a perspective often trumpeted by the gamer community, but it's even more refreshing to have it come from within the industry itself, and gives us one more reason to keep Sins of a Solar Empire sitting on our desktops.

It's yet another huge week here at the Big Download news site. For a "game" that's not really a game, Maxis' Spore Creature Creator generated more buzz than most true PC game titles. But that's not all we had. Take a look at the highlights from the past week.

Exclusives

• Spore Creature Creator: Not only did we chat briefly with Spore's executive producer Lucy Bradshaw, we launched a Spore Creature Creator contest that will give the winners some cool prizes.
• Interview: Brad Wardell of Stardock: We chat with the CEO of Stardock about The Political Machine 2008, Sins of a Solar Empire, their new Impulse game delivery system and lots more.
• Interview: Randy Stude of The PC Gaming Alliance: We quiz the president of the non-profit organization on their plans to promote and improve PC gaming.
• Freeware Friday: Our latest free game spotlight goes to the sci-fi action strategy game Battleships Forever.

The future of mass digital distribution inches ever closer, as Stardock throws its hat into the ring with Impulse. Although Impulse does have Sins of a Solar Empire, The Political Machine '08, Penny Arcade: OTRSPODE1 and touts "more than 100 games," many of them are currently third-tier titles.

Much like the upgrades to Steam, Impulse will support online save game data, multiplayer matchmaking and game rankings. Also, if a publisher takes advantage of the service, Impulse allows users to tie games to their accounts -- even if they weren't purchased through Impulse -- meaning they'll be available to re-download at any point in the future without hunting for discs or activation codes. There's plenty of other information for PC users to scour over on the Impulse website.

It's good for consumers to see more competition in the digital distribution marketplace and we're more than happy with the new features Impulse and Steam are adding. Now Impulse just has to grow its library so it doesn't get lost in the haze of Steam.

Although we're sure plenty of Europeans have already pirated Sins of a Solar Empire -- and really, we can't blame you -- the game officially launches in the UK today. The surprise PC hit will cost £30 in the UK and, although the press release speaks about the "European retail box," we can't seem to currently find a release date or price for the rest of the continent.

Sins of a Solar Empire has no disc copy-protection, but supports those who purchased a copy with patches, which have greatly improved the game since launch. UK gamers who got the game through nefarious means, please feel free to support this excellent strategy game with a retail purchase. You want a Sins of a Solar Empire 2, don't you?

[Via Big Download]

With publisher Stardock's rise the last couple of years and the announcement that it'll be publishing Gas Powered Games' next title, Demigod, it was time catch up with the two companies. We spoke with Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell and Gas Powered Games' founder Chris Taylor and asked some niggling questions on our minds ... and fired a few total shots in the dark which yielded results (like Demigod on consoles?). Find out more about Stardock and why Gas Powered Games decided to hook up with the little-publisher-that-could for its next title in our interview.

OK, let's get right into it, what's Demigod?

Chris Taylor - Demigod is a frantic team-based action game with RPG and RTS elements mixed in. If that doesn't sound familiar, it's because we're sort of inventing a new style of hybrid gameplay. The player selects a Demigod, and fights for a place in the pantheon of Gods in these incredible arenas. Each battle puts the player in command of either an Assassin Demigod, or General Demigod. These two types gives the player a choice of whether they command just the single Demigod, an Assassin, or whether they take command over every single unit in the game, like a traditional RTS, a General.

Forget what you might have heard, Galactic Civilization II's final expansion, Twilight of the Arnor, releases digitally April 30. There are no plans to release the title at retail and discount bundles are available of the whole Gal Civ II saga on the game's website.

The expansion adds unique tech trees for the 12 major civilizations, various new ships and weapons, a new victory condition called "Ascension" and various game tweaks. So, prepare to "finish the fight" April 30 ... wait, that might already be trademarked.

Galactic Civilizations II remains one of PC gaming's best kept secrets, something that has more to do with the game's single player focus than its ability to lurk in shadows. Now the game is set to get its second and last expansion, dubbed Twilight of the Arnor, an addition that publisher/developer Stardock has confirmed to us will be released as a digital download on April 23.

The expansion details the final chapter of the game's Dread Lord wars, and builds upon last year's acclaimed expansion, Dark Avatar. Like that game, Twilight will introduce numerous improvements and tweaks to GalCiv II, from new technology trees to map and campaign editors. Could this finally be the game to pry us from Ironclad's Sins of a Solar Empire? Ask us on April 24. Until then, check out a partial list of additions promised by the expansion after the break.

Demigod, Gas Powered Games' team-based RTS/RPG, is expected to launch in February of 2009. The company announced today it has reached a publishing agreement with Stardock, which also prominently stated in its press release that the game will feature no on-disc copy protection.

Gas Powered Games is best known for its Dungeon Siege series, but most recently released the hardcore RTS Supreme Commander (recently delayed for consoles). Publisher Stardock recently found more mainstream success with the best-selling -- and surprisingly scalable on older PCs -- Sins of a Solar Empire (the company's Galactic Civilizations II isn't bad either). Sins sports no copy protection and, despite that fact, the game has found success at retail -- plus, it's only $30. Demigod will have a public beta this summer and we'll be sure to post more about that when details become available.

Stardock's political strategy game returns for this year's election with The Political Machine 2008. The full retail product puts players in charge of a national campaign for President of the United States; tasking them to control their candidate, raise cash, hire spin doctors and win endorsements. TPM 08 releases in June for $20.

The game is the follow up to 2004's The Political Machine, but with a whole new engine and style -- the candidates are depicted as "bobble head" dolls now. Stardock says the game mirrors real-world events like answering questions on "Colvert Report" and "O'Malley Factor." Players can also play a campaign from history or create their own future election. Publisher Stardock has really upped its game the last couple years; bringing us solid expansions to Galactic Civilizations II and the exceptional Sins of a Solar Empire.

Sins of a Solar Empire might just be the best game you've never played. Then again, maybe you have, considering how well the PC game has been selling since its early February debut. Still, if there's one thing that's been missing from the experience, its how to court those players still on the fence, with a demo for the 4X strategy hybrid being noticeably absent. Until now that is, as Iron Clad and publisher Stardock have finally pushed out a demo, which is currently available for download from Gamespot.

The news is great, really, but the question as to why the demo took so long to produce had to be asked. So we did. We broached to topic with Stardock president and CEO Brad Wardell, who told us that "when Sins of a Solar Empire was released, Stardock and developer Iron Clad felt that our first priority had to be to existing customers...once we released v1.03, we were able to spend the necessary time to put together a quality demo." Quality is a word people throw around too easily, so those of you who pick up the demo, drop us a line below and let us know if Wardell's comments are justified.

4X strategy games are usually doing good just to get noticed. The titles are by their very nature an acquired taste usually appreciated only by a select few, reason enough why we imagine that the devs at Ironclad Games are breaking out the good glasses this evening, patting themselves on the back for a job well done while finally uncorking that bottle of 1995 Chateau Margaux that's been gathering dust in the cellar.

The reason for the celebration? It turns out that the studio's debut 4X game, Sins of a Solar Empire, has sold more than 100,000 units since its release on February 4, making it the top selling PC game in North America for the week based on sales data compiled by Gamasutra. It's anyone's guess how long PC gamers' love affair with Ironclad's space epic will last, but for now at least it appears that in the kingdom of the keyboard and mouse number crunching and micromanagement are king.

[Via press release]

PC strategy games come in a variety of flavors, from casual to hardcore, though it's those dubbed 4X that are the most exhausting, and arguably the most fun of the lot. The term 4X has some interesting roots, having first been coined in a magazine review for Microprose's classic Masters of Orion, the label is now used to call out an entire sub-genre of strategy games that exhibit four underlying goals: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate.

Traditionally, though not always, these games are played in turns rather than in real-time, though it's extremely rare to see a title subscribe to both schools of gameplay, something that Ironclad Games' upcoming 4X release Sins of a Solar Empire takes to heart. With the game set to be released on February 4 by GalCiv publisher Stardock, we decided to sit down and speak with Ironclad's producer and lead designer Blair Fraser to get some added insight into what appears to offer an unique take on this particular class of PC strategy.

Indie PC game developer/publisher Stardock has picked up a brand-new remake of the 1986 Cinemaware smash hit Defender of the Crown. Storm enemy castles! Win jousting contests! Make out with princesses! And now, experience all these things which would never be possible for most geeks (especially that making-out part) in glorious modern graphics that look even better than the original Amiga version (but only barely). This game is so old, you can legally get it drunk!