delay of game, demigod, gallery, gas powered games, media, pc, stardock

Demigod Gets Publisher, Slips To 2009

Clever press release writers, knowing that the longer the release the less likely we are to read all the way to the end. I nearly missed out on the delay of Gas Powered Games' upcoming RTS RPG Demigod in this announcement concerning a publishing agreement reached with Stardock of Sins of a Solar Empire and Object Desktop fame. Stardock will be handling publishing duties and digital delivery of Demigod for the PC, originally slated for a late 2008 release. The reason for the delay?

To fully support a public beta that will launch this summer, the launch date for Demigod has been moved to February 2009. This will give the development team sufficient time to incorporate feedback from the beta players while polishing the game.

In order to play early, we must first learn to play late. Very zen. To further distract us from the delay, here's some screenshots.

Stardock, Gas Powered Games Partner For Upcoming Demigod
- Demigod to Feature No On-Disc Copy Protection; Set to Launch February 2009 -

PLYMOUTH, MI - April 7, 2008 - Stardock and Gas Powered Games announced today that they have reached a publishing agreement for Gas Powered Games' upcoming PC game, Demigod.

Demigod is a team-based action game with RTS and RPG elements. Players take control of a massive Demigod with the goal of annihilating their opponent's position in a given arena while preventing the opponent's Demigod from doing the same to them. Although the game supports superb one-on-one duels, the title will truly shine in team play either with other human-controlled Demigods or with ones controlled by a sophisticated computer AI. As the game progresses, the player's Demigod will acquire items, attributes and experience.

Gas Powered Games, having become one of the leading PC game developers with hit titles such as Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander chose Stardock as its exclusive worldwide PC publisher in part because of Stardock's tremendous success with the award-winning Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations.

"Forging our new partnership with Stardock is a big deal for all of us at GPG, and we couldn't be more excited about it," said Chris Taylor, founder and CEO of Gas Powered Games. "Not only do we have a proven retail publisher, but we get to partner with a pioneer in the digital distribution space... a company that totally understands what kind of experience our customer wants and the quality game they demand. The whole proposition is truly refreshing."

Stardock's most recent release, Sins of a Solar Empire was the top selling PC strategy game at retail according to NPD, and the second highest selling PC game overall despite selling immense numbers of copies digitally which are not counted in sales rankings. The game has received universally high reviews in the media and many have noted how seamlessly Stardock and developer Ironclad worked together.

"We're very excited at the opportunity to work with Gas Powered Games," said Brad Wardell, president and CEO of Stardock. "By integrating our teams and working together, we will be able to create something that represents the best of both teams."

To fully support a public beta that will launch this summer, the launch date for Demigod has been moved to February 2009. This will give the development team sufficient time to incorporate feedback from the beta players while polishing the game. Like Stardock's other games, Demigod will be released without any on-disc copy protection and has been budgeted to receive many months of free post-release feature updates.

The official website for Demigod is in the works, but users who want to begin discussing the game can visit http://www.demigodthegame.com.

10:20 AM on Mon Apr 7 2008
By Mike Fahey
2,809 views
25 comments

Comments

antialias02 at 10:29 AM on 04/07/08
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Sounds like they ripped a page from the good ol' EA Mythic handbook. I've been keeping tabs on Demigod for a while; I've had my doubts, but if GPG is putting this thing together, I think it's in good hands. Can't wait to play it (public beta woo!).
7ucky at 10:30 AM on 04/07/08
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Shadow of the Colossusy?
Witzbold at 10:31 AM on 04/07/08
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Connectedness Index: 3401

I think I see the ban hammer!

Will be looking forward to this one. Have been ever since they first announced it with those original pictures posted up here.
Mibu1 at 10:33 AM on 04/07/08
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This game looks really nice and those giants are really cool. Hope the gameplay will be good.
7ucky at 10:36 AM on 04/07/08
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@Witzbold: Heh? Are you referring to me?
ggodo at 10:38 AM on 04/07/08
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I like the tag, "Delay of Game" five yard penalty.
Krondonian at 10:38 AM on 04/07/08
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@7ucky: Hey, I'm not gonna complain about a Shadow of the Colossus RTS.

The arenas look extremely small...but apart from that, looks pretty neat.

@Witzbold: And if they have a Giant Prinny as an Unlockable, who the hell WON'T buy it?!
DaoKaioshin at 10:42 AM on 04/07/08
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@7ucky: I think he means in the screenshots.

I wonder if the deal was inked to give us some more reasons to install Impulse (when it's available).
fyre at 10:43 AM on 04/07/08
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I'm not a big Chris Taylor fan, but this looks quite interesting.

Anyway, I <3 Stardock.
7ucky at 10:44 AM on 04/07/08
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@DaoKaioshin: Oh, ha! A little slow this Monday morning. I couldn't understand it because I love SotC and a different game mechanic on the same scale with some possible influences that style? *mwah!*

I'll have to keep an eye on this.
okenny :) at 10:51 AM on 04/07/08
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This game looks amazing. It's probably not likely that this will be coming to the console but hopefully I will have settled back into PC gaming by 2009. Here's to good thing waiting for me there. I just like the way RTS RPG sounds :) Never played one though :(

@Witzbold: Does the star next to your name stand for P☆P (penguin pornstar)?
jayntampa at 10:54 AM on 04/07/08
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You know, I am looking forward to this game ... but, I always get discouraged that those awesome looking screens aren't useful for actually playing the game -- so, the great graphics don't really matter. You always have to pull back on the camera, so you never see all the details anyway ...
sohpi at 11:03 AM on 04/07/08
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Love the sense of scale on some of those huge colossuslike demi-gods. Its fun seeing the most popular Warcraft 3 custom map types slowly becoming independent commercial products, like the tower defense game for the PS3 and that horrible looking Final Fantasy themed tower defense map for cell phones.
Spiral at 11:15 AM on 04/07/08
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I've been looking for something with Aeon of Strife-style gameplay that doesn't require me installing WC3 again, getting the latest LATEST map version that everyone has, then play with a bunch of 13 year olds who criticize anyone on their team from not playing as them.

Too bad this is slipping, but I had forgotten this existed. I was expecting I'd have to wait for SC2 modders for a good AOS map.
Stormrider at 11:16 AM on 04/07/08
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I love the art design, it looks fantastic. Too bad I have no hope of running it on my laptop when it actually does come out.
Tei at 11:22 AM on 04/07/08
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This looks awesome, in a awesome way.
My cat approbe this screenshots.
Tei at 11:24 AM on 04/07/08
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I bet this game is complete. But is too awesome for 2008 computers.
K-Squad! (Badass Edition) at 11:33 AM on 04/07/08
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So is Stardock bringing sexy back to computers or what?
Atheist Jew at 11:36 AM on 04/07/08
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Looking forward to this one a whole lot. Chris Taylor can do no wrong!

Just wish he'd get back to making Amen, because that was looking fantastic back at E3 99'
The_nub_next_door at 11:54 AM on 04/07/08
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Gas powered + Stardock = Supreme awesomeness!
Dukeman330 at 12:17 PM on 04/07/08
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This game looks amazing. Add to that the fact that Stardock = no copy protection. I'm super excited!
pogfreak at 12:55 PM on 04/07/08
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please don't fuck this up GPG. Their games always have such promise but (IMO) they haven't fully delivered on any of their titles. I think a commercial DotA like game is a no brainer.
icelight at 01:14 PM on 04/07/08
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Well, I like Stardock, and I like GPG, and I like games that take the time to make sure major (and minor) bugs are worked out, and I'll probably need the time to be able to afford computer upgrades. So, win-win-win-win?
TheNocturnalSun at 03:34 PM on 04/07/08
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i really cant wait for this game, those screens are so gorgeous. but the delay isnt really that bad, just means a better game in the end
arstal at 06:07 PM on 04/07/08
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If you really want the game this summer, just pre-order it, you'll get all the betas. (Pretty much standard Stardock policy)

Waiting for SD's not-MoM at the moment, will worry about other stuff later.

As for system specs- usually Stardock games will run on even low-grade comps. I can actually run GC2 powering down my laptop to max battery life at a decent rate, provided I keep galaxy size down to medium.