OS/2 era (1993–2001)
Stardock's initial product was a computer game for OS/2 called Galactic Civilizations. Stardock did not receive the majority of royalties from the initial sales of Galactic Civilizations due to publisher bankruptcy in addition to taking on many of the publisher's responsibilities, but the market had been created for subsequent addon packs including the Shipyards expansion, and Stardock later sold a significant number of licenses to IBM for part of its Family FunPak (under the name Star Emperor). Stardock went on to create OS/2 Essentials, and its successor, Object Desktop, which provided the company with a large base of users.
Wardell identified the death of the OS/2 platform as a major setback for the company. Stardock continued to develop applications software and games for OS/2, at the same time that IBM had internally cancelled its development. Stardock's OS/2 offerings at the time included Avarice and Entrepreneur. With the launch of Windows NT 4, Stardock found that its user base was deteriorating. The company was reoriented as a Microsoft Windows developer, losing many of its financial resources and staff in the transition. Stardock had expected Trials of Battle, a 3D hovercraft fighting game, to sell a million copies and it instead sold hundreds.[3]
Windows era (1998–present)
The newer, smaller Stardock was heavily reliant on the goodwill of its previous customers, who essentially purchased Windows subscriptions for Object Desktop in anticipation of the products it would consist of. Having put together a basic package (including some old favorites from the OS/2 era) Stardock began to bring in external developers to create original products.
Stardock's first major Windows success was with WindowBlinds, an application originated by a partnership with developer Neil Banfield. There turned out to be a large market for skinnable products, and Stardock prospered, growing significantly in the following five years. The release of Windows XP stimulated sales in Stardock products, and despite growing competition proportional to the market the company remains in a strong position.
In 2001, it added a widget creation and desktop modification tool, DesktopX, based on Alberto Riccio's VDE. DesktopX competed with Konfabulator and Kapsules in the widget arena. In 2003, Stardock became a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with its "Designed for Windows" certification of WindowBlinds.
Stardock's success in the Windows game market has been mixed. At first, its titles on Windows were published by third parties: The Corporate Machine (Take 2), Galactic Civilizations (Strategy First), and The Political Machine (Ubisoft). While all three titles sold well at retail, Stardock was unsatisfied with the amount of revenue Windows games developers received. In the case of Galactic Civilizations, publisher Strategy First filed for bankruptcy without paying most of the royalties owed.[4] This ultimately led to Stardock self-publishing its future titles. Because of the success of its desktop applications, Stardock has been able to self-fund its own PC games and aid third-party developers with their games as well.[5] In 2010 Q3, Stardock engaged in layoffs.[6]
In 2012, Stardock successfully launched Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion to positive reviews.[7] This version was co-developed by Stardock and development partner Ironclad Games.
In July 2013, Stardock bought the Star Control franchise during the Atari, SA bankruptcy proceedings. This resulted in the 2018 release of Star Control Origins, which received mixed reviews. During development, there were ongoing legal disputes with the original creators of the Star Control franchise.[8][9]
