Elemental: War of Magic Sales and Retail Shipments Increasing Since Game's Rocky Start

When it first launched, Elemental: War of Magic stumbled in the wake of gameplay and balance issues. Today, things are looking up for the game as publisher/developer Stardock told Big Download that sales were up 30 percent in October.

Stardock wouldn't detail the increase but noted that sales on its digital platform Impulse, as well as retail order shipments, saw spikes during the month. Of course, whether this has more to do with the developer fixing some of the game's issues or the two free expansion packs that were offered for buyers before Halloween is unclear.

Elemental was expected to provide a healthy revenue stream to the company; however, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell called the game's launch "disastrous," saying the "expected" revenue was "unlikely to happen." In response, Stardock was forced to lay off an undisclosed amount of employees.

In early October, Wardell stepped down as Elemental's lead designer, hiring Civilization IV Fall from Heaven mod creator Derek "Kael" Paxton to fill the role. Wardell currently serves as Elemental's executive producer and lead AI developer.