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Stardock - From Indie Developer to Publisher

Posted by Zonk on from the growing-up-gamer dept.

Consumed_Crustacean writes "GameDaily has an interview with Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock Systems. In the interview, they discuss Stardock's transition from a smallish independent developer to a full-blown publisher (both retail and online). Of particular interest is the discussion on DRM and their online distribution, which Wardell opposes, and said 'Software piracy is something that tends to be overblown. The question for us boils down to the number of sales lost due to piracy versus the number of sales lost due to people not wanting to be inconvenienced.'"

3 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. Amen by n9uxu8 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Brother...

    Glad to see a publisher that can at least factor the consumer experience into the drm equation...

    Dave

  2. A Soft-DRM in practice! by RingDev · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Our goal is to make it very convenient to purchase our software and somewhat inconvenient to pirate it."

    That is the way to do it. A DRM shouldn't PREVENT illegal behavior, just make it so that legal behavior is more convenient! This is exactly the theory that I preach in my journal ;) http://slashdot.org/~RingDev/journal/126947

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  3. Some definitions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Indie developer: A developer who creates a game with their own resources, as opposed to having development funded by a publisher. The developer thus has the independence to create any kind of game they desire, based on their preferences, market analysis, or artistic license, and are not at risk of being cancelled or forced to change their design by a third party publisher.

    Publisher: A company who distributes, markets, supports, and/or finances game development projects. Publishing can vary widely; some publishers do everything, from game inception to retail. Others act as sales affiliates, and sell completed games for a commission.

    An indie can use a publisher, but it is usually after the game is complete. Most indies are seeking marketing and distribution from a publisher, not financing; accordingly, they retain control over the creative direction of the game instead of handing it over to the publisher who funded it.