Independent Games Summit Reports

GDC’s Independent Games Summit didn’t cover any games of direct interest to us, but did feature several interesting talks. GameSpot has some good coverage, including a round-up and coverage of The Art of Promoting Indie and the presentation of Stardock CEO Brad Wardell on how Stardock is making small-scale development work.

Last September, Stardock announced that Sins of a Solar Empire had sold more than 500,000 copies. With a purchase price of $29.95, those figures mean revenues just shy of $15 million. Although that’s small potatoes to an Electronic Arts or Activision Blizzard, it’s a fortune for a minor operation.

“We tried to get [big] publishers, but no one was interested,” explained Wardell. “Because the game’s not going to make $30 million, they’re not going to pay attention at all. It’s still that way, but I’m willing to sacrifice for my game to only make $10 million.”

What made Sins of a Solar Empire and its sibling Galactic Civilizations II even more remarkable were their low development costs. Wardell said each was made for “well under” $2 million, putting their profit ratio at a whopping “10-to-1.”