Sins of a Solar Empire crosses the Pond

  • By Andrew Mehta, GameSpot UK
  • Posted Apr 21, 2008 6:13 am PT

Highly praised space RTS finally gets an international publisher following stateside success.

Although Kalypso Media has been operating in the UK only since August 2007, the Leicester-based company announced today a new transatlantic publishing alliance. The fledgling publisher confirmed that it is teaming up with Stardock Entertainment to publish Ironclad Games' critically acclaimed debut Sins of a Solar Empire in Europe, and is looking to launch the game across the continent by early June.

Stardock and Ironclad have been looking for a European publisher since the game's US release. One of their representatives told GameSpot UK in February, shortly after the game's US release, "Hopefully with the success of the game in North America, someone will pick it up soon. We were told that space games just wouldn't sell over there."

Sins of a Solar Empire is a real-time strategy game on an interstellar scale that sees players control one of three factions spreading out from a single world in an attempt to gain control of resources and territory while dealing with battle tactics and empire-wide issues. Scoring 9.0 when reviewed by GameSpot in February, it was described as an "addictive, deep game that elevates space strategy to new levels."

Sins of a Solar Empire will have a recommended retail price of £29.99 ($60) in the UK and €39.99 ($63) in the Eurozone, and will include six exclusive maps and a tech-tree poster. The game made it into the US top 10 earlier this year, having sold 100,000 units online at retail over a period of two months, according to Kalypso.

Kalypso and Stardock's deal isn't limited just to Europe. The former also announced that it has the rights to publish Sins of a Solar Empire in both the Middle and Far East, though release dates and pricing information for those regions haven't yet been announced.

31 Comments

  • JoeyTrib1550

    Posted Apr 24, 2008 9:31 am PT

    Normaly a new pc game costs 50euro, a collectors edition even 55-60euro
    I bought the game from America, and it was cheaper than most games in europe even in spite of the high shipping costs
    (Awesome game by the way)

    PS: I wasn't the only one shipping it from the US, in fact there were quite many in Germany who did just the same, actually so many, that they released a patch for german voice-over. Even though it isn't really essential to play the game, I think it's a very good service

  • Drower

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 10:57 pm PT

    JokeofAnubis, that simply isn't true. The reason games cost more in Europe is that the distributors can get away with asking for a higher price. When buying one game, an european spends a higher percentage of his hard earned cash than an american does.

  • rockatanski

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 7:13 pm PT

    I bought Sins from the US for $50 Oz. Awesome game apart from no campaign ;( It really is a good multiplayer though!

  • herodotus2006

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 5:02 pm PT

    Australia gets it this weel or next, though its' been reviewed here 2 months ago. This does not make for good sales points. Initial interest wanes as more newer releases come out ahead of it.

  • BlueBirdTS

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 4:48 pm PT

    I hope this will help the global community grow further!

  • ChocoKat

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 4:36 pm PT

    RaiKageRyu, Correction. Gamespot loves fantastic games.

  • MichaelGeorge70

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 4:31 pm PT

    errrm i got this of stardock.com in the uk well over 3 months ago???? great game and space games do sell nexus, homeworld(cat and 2), star trek legacy ,star trek conquest to name a few i own

  • KingOfTheNubeis

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 3:59 pm PT

    been in the shop in the uk for ages ?

  • Exostenza

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 1:49 pm PT

    Good for Sins. This game is extremely fun and sold very well in North America. I am glad the other side of the world is now able to experience the glory of a hard copy of the game rather than just the download as the manual is huge and nice to have.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 12:28 pm PT

    Cool, good game, very deep and fun even in lan play!

  • JokeofAnubis

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 11:54 am PT

    Euros are worth far more than US dollars right now, which is why the American dollar amount seems so much higher.

    For people living in the EU, however, that is consistent with, say, the amount of money they make in Euros.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 11:44 am PT

    Gamespot loves it spaces strategy games.

  • Drower

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 10:35 am PT

    But it has already been available to us europeans for a long while due to digital download.

  • theclaw135

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 10:05 am PT

    $60? Well, I guess. Seems a bit odd.

  • starwars0000

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 9:38 am PT

    **** I just bought this yesterday without a tech tree

  • mismajor99

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 9:34 am PT

    deannatrois, just import it man, it's cheaper and you can have it now. I agree though, you guys do have to pay more with the exchange rate, but the opposite was true years ago when we actually had a respectable currency. fiat currency is what sucks b.....

  • DukeEdwardI

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 9:17 am PT

    good to see a great game become available to more people.

  • redfrog111

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 9:14 am PT

    I've already downloded it

  • Atomic_Mutant

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 9:00 am PT

    Why pay more than 50% the normal retail price the game's selling for in the US while one may as well just import it at a cheaper price?

  • Scroll-Lock

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 8:52 am PT

    Already imported the special edition. I'm sure it'll get noticed by some people. It's a great game that keeps getting better.

  • bangell99

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 8:52 am PT

    YEAAAH! Why do they always leave us till last? I played the demo and loved it. I'm gonna go out and buy it now.

  • Alastes

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 7:59 am PT

    Anyone over in Europe who wants to play it badly enough probably already has downloaded it or imported a copy. Not to say they won't get sales over there, just probably not very many.

  • BetterThanLife posted Apr 21, 2008 7:47 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    BetterThanLife

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 7:47 am PT (hide)

    The game is generic RTS at its best, don't buy into the hype, it's pretty standard RTS.

  • Avenger1324

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 7:45 am PT

    slowly but surely this game gets the recognition it deserves.

  • crawfish406

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 7:38 am PT

    I'm glad it's finally physically coming out over here, but you can already download it from their website for about £23

  • Sins-of-Mosin

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 7:31 am PT

    Great news indeed. Sins keeps on improving.

  • JianJLyman

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 7:18 am PT

    If u haven't played his game yet ur missing out of one of the best games of the year!

  • stinger822

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 6:58 am PT

    It's being released in Australia on the 24th of April
    http://au.gamespot.com/news/6189609.html

  • linkthewindow

    Posted Apr 21, 2008 6:43 am PT

    Still no Aussie release though

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

Sins of a Solar Empire Boxshot
Sins of a Solar Empire

Game Stats

  • Rank:
    374 of 79,397
    (up by 68)
    PC Rank:
    102 of 12,188
    Tracking:
    5,053 Track It»
    Wishlists:
    2,736 Wish It»
  • Users Now Playing:
    1,541
  • Number of Players:

    1 Player, 10 Online

  • Top 5 User Tags:
    1. sins of a solar empire
    2. stardock
    3. rts
    4. ironclad games
    5. sins
  • Teen Rating Description

    Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. Learn more

Full Game Details »Close

Related Games

Recent News

See All News »

Site Blogs