Sure, that’s one way of looking at it. But from what I’ve gathered, the campaign didn’t generate a lot of buzz, with a lot of outlets not picking it up at all. Could be because the campaign is too low-profile or simply because most people shrug.
Of course. I’m not sure I would describe these games as complex – they’re basically a collection of minigames connected through traversing a game world (that is a little to moderately reactive to what the player accomplishes). They have a bunch of moving parts, certainly, but the individual elements are fairly simple.
Also, the remake of Pirates! was released in 2004, back when there was far less competition (no mobile games, no free-to-play games, no (?) pirate-based MMORPGs, and what have you). The market has changed drastically. I think that if Star Control: Origins had been released around that time, it would have been far more successful than it currently appears to be.
From what Steamspy tells me, The Long Journey Home, which is very similar to Star Control, has done more or less as well/badly as Star Control: Origins. I imagine, since Stardock is a better known Indie developer, that Origins will have a better long tail. But it seems like these games cater primarily to a niche audience, unless you really manage to tap into something that makes a lot of people enthusiastic.
I’ve actually re-installed Spore and have been playing around with the space stage again. I think it offers a better, more modern approach to a more arcade-like space game than Origins does. For example, it offers better (IMO) player rewards by issuing badges and levelling up the player. It also simplifies a bunch of stuff that’s more complicated than in Origins, like travel within a system and between star systems (just point and click), and does away with lander missions by just having your ship fly closer to a planet’s surface. The visuals are similar, but more varied (just look at all those types of trees!). There’s also quite a few people still playing that game (released in 2008). With Galactic Adventures, it even adds an ARPG-like dimension to planet interactions.
So, sure, I think people would love an updated Star Control. But I wonder if Origins is that game: it seems to be essentially a remake of Star Control 2, incorporating every element of that game without wondering if it’s actually fun or could be replaced with something more modern/streamlined/better. Since Stardock generally doesn’t give up on a franchise easily, especially not one as important as this, I expect they’ll go the Elemental route and release a (hopefully) vastly improved sequel.
Oh, certainly. They’ve got a lot of games in their catalogue that do well. I don’t expect Stardock banked their entire future on this game. They’ve got the software division well, which props up the company as a whole. Like I said, they’ll continue with Star Control regardless, and are no doubt betting on continued interest and purchases as they release expansion packs, DLC, and sequels.
