Please know that I, and many others greatly appreciate what you and the rest of the people in Stardock do. No matter how tempting it is, please don't succumb to the increasing trend of spitting out crap games, with no justification of DRM, and with the sole intent of of making games solely for money. Think of money as an added bonus to your creative vision, yes it is necessary, but don't degrade your creative impulse for more money.

And with that, thanks again for your innovation in the Gaming industry, I along with others will continue to support, Stardock and Impulse, with integrity regarding our money, just as you've shown integrity regarding DRM, anti-piracy, fair pricing, and games that are not only a joy to play out of the box, but further down the line as well.

Frogboy has already flatly stated that isn't going to happen.

Why sue? I mean, the losses are far less than the expenses of said lawsuit.

Even if Stardock weren't minnows, what would be done?

This isn't the first time, I imagine, Gamestop has released games early, even from bigger publishers. What has been the outcome for Gamestop on those occasions?

Hehe. Awesome. I had a good chuckle at Reg's child-like attempt at self-apotheosis.

While I never liked the idea of litigation over petty issues, part of me would still like to see the person responsible for this drama recieve a well-deserved slap up the back of the head... And then I'd like that act to be filmed, and posted on Youtube for the world to see.

Call me strange, but that seems more like true justice to me.

Well... your game has been officialy pirated less then hour ago.

To be honest it's just a bit surprising that it happened that late. It was unavoidable never the less.

I'll pick up my copy as soon as it arrives at my store. And i think you guys shouldn't worry about it being pirated. I wish to you that Demigod will be a success. And i wish it to myself since your success means bigger community and more of your support for us!

Like Gabe Newell (Founder of Valve) once said, when buying a game, you're not just buying a product, you're are hiring a service.

Look at the Team Fortress 2 model, they are constantly adding new content for legitimate customers, the warez version is just a piece of junk since it has become obsolete and boring.

For more in-depth info, see his DICE 2009 Keynote

Happy Easter Stardock, and fellow Demigod fans. I can't wait to see everyone online tomorrow so that the real gaming can begin. (I must admit, the pressure from friends and co-workers who all picked up the game at Gamestop on Saturday finally made me cave in and I said I would ONLY by the game if they had a CE version... and they did... so yea.. I am sorry =\ ) Anyway, the game is PHENOM and I will be an avid part of this community for a while I am sure!

-Mord

Just out of interest, why the decision to release the demo -after- the game goes on sale?

I'm sorry to say that some people had already downloaded and played the game... by ilegal means... so i guess this article is quite wrong.

I'm waiting for the download.

Cehan i don't see how it's "surprising", the thing with major AAA-titles is that they're usually making a lot more copies, as well as sending them out in advance of the release.

Gamestop didn't get their shipments until April 10th, 4 days before release, AAA-titles may ship out the game even up to a month in advance, though usually atleast a week.

The game was actually leaked a few hours after the original post, so basically it was leaked somewhere between 1-2 days after it was available in stores.

Leaks in the manufactoring process is very rare these days, usually because of the limited amount of people with access to the physical media.

There are unfortunately a couple groups of people who won't buy the game.  Those who aren't terribly interested in it, but if someone gives them a copy they might tinker with it, and those who are spoiled jerks who feel the world owes them a favor.

But there are those of us who I love gaming on the PC.  And though I may be more mature (old?!  never! mature, I choose to say), than some of the folks here, I genuinely feel that if I don't buy the product, who the heck is going to make it?

Why in the heck would Stardock and Gas Powered Games pay employess, purchase software tools to code, pay for office facilities, artists, accounting folks, HR folks, etc. etc. if they weren't going to make a profit?!

Charge a fair price, release a quality product and flourish.  And not having to deal with crap like what came with Spore?!  Icing on the cake!

Which of us in particular?

I'm a PC only gamer myself. A couple of months away from 30 so maybe I'm just fixed in my ways. I did try to get into consoles... they just never seemed to provide the same kind of experience that you get from PC games. As I see heavily console influenced titles released on PC (if they are released at all on that platform) its good to know there are still some companies that get it.

Happiness is a mouse, a keyboard and a 300 page manual