Publisher Stardock today announced the launch of Impulse, a new PC gaming digital distribution and retail platform for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Impulse is available for download now on the platform's official website.

"Impulse is a platform first, a store second. Our primary objective with Impulse is to address the issues users have with their Windows experience today," said Stardock CEO Brad Wardell.

Essentially rebranded version of the company's previous digital distribution solution Stardock Central, Impulse is bundled with today's retail release of Stardock's Political Machine 2008. All titles registered on a user's Stardock.net accounts are available via Impulse.

Supporting all types of PC software including games, applications and utilities, Impulse does not require its users to be online to play single-player titles. Stardock... Read more

Gas Powered Games' RTS-RPG hybrid Demigod (PC) has been delayed into 2009 and will be published by digital and retail distributor Stardock, the two companies announced today.

Previously expected to arrive in fall 2008, Demigod was pushed to February 2009 in order to integrate feedback from the forthcoming summer public beta test. The game puts players in control of a massive golem, tasked with destroying an opponents army before the same fate befalls their army.

As with Ironclad Games' Stardock-published RTS Sins of a Solar Empire (PC), Demigod will not sport any type of on-disc copy protection. The companies also noted that the game has been budgeted for "many months of free post-release feature updates."

"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," said Gas Powered Games founder and CEO Chris Taylor. "The whole proposition is truly refreshing.”

Gas Powered Games' latest project is becoming a little more clear with the release of a few more images.

Using the Supreme Commander engine, Demigod will borrow aspects of gameplay from RTS mods such as Warcraft III's Defense of the Ancients, allowing players to control a single hero unit within a massive online battle.

A release time frame and platform has also been revealed since the initial announcement: Fall 2008, on PC.

Chris Taylor and the team at Gas Powered Games will follow their 2007 RTS Supreme Commander with a take on a popular RTS modification, according to a 1UP report filed today.

The game, called Demigod, is said to at least partly derive its gameplay from Defense of the Ancients, the wildly successful user-created mod for Blizzard's RTS Warcraft III.

As in DotA, players of the multiplayer-focused Demigod will command a single hero unit, which can grow in power based on a leveling structure. Some of the hero units will have the ability to create lesser units and supporting structures, while others will make do with their own super powers.

According to the report, Demigod is being designed as a multiplayer experience, with an "emphasis on co-op play." There will be a singleplayer component, which Gas Powered Games characterized as a "training ground."

Platform and release date projections have yet to be announced.

Developer Stardock Entertainment has announced the second expansion pack for its ambitious 4X effort Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords.

Titled Twilight of the Arnor, the new content acts as the final chapter in the series' Dread Lord wars. It adds a new campaign, the star-destroying Terror Star unit, new technology trees, new ships to the game, along with a new 3D map editor, new scenario editor, new campaign editor, a bigger galaxy, and more.

Requiring either Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar or Galactic Civilizations II Gold Edition, Twilight of the Arnor will be available in November at $29.99 and can be pre-ordered from TotalGaming.net for the reduced price of $24.95.

Master Of The Galaxy is a Gamasutra interview with Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. There are questions about Stardock's attempts to obtain the Master of Magic license, the Galactic Civilizations 2 expansion, MMO plans, and copy protection.

New at FiringSquad today is this Q&A with Stardock's Brad Wardell. The questions are about Stardock's plans for a retail publishing company.

The WarGamer has a new Q&A with Brad Wardell of Stardock. Questions are about combining making games and making Windows customization software, mixing being a developer and publisher, the effects of sucess on the company, digital distribution and more.

FiringSquad has a Q&A with Stardock's Brad Wardell posted. Wardell is asked about the immense success that Galactic Civilizations 2 has enjoyed so far, the ratio of boxed copy vs digital download sales, upcoming updates, expansion pack plans, and the whole StarForce incident.

Computer Games Magazine is reporting that Stardock is working on a massively multiplayer real-time strategy game, which will be free to play. According to Stardock head Brad Wardell, the game will sort of be 'The Sims meets Total Annihilation.'