Ha ha...selling impulse to gamestop...oh the wit...a real knee-slapper, I'll say...
On a more serious note, I am far more concerned about game development than distribution...
How much of a pain DRM and ESDs can be is irrelevant if there aren't good games to buy in the first place...I'd rather hassle with limited downloads and sketchy service than not see good future gaming titles in the PC market...
We can all speculate on how good or bad impulse will be after this new deal in May...but is anyone worried about the quality of Stardock's next release title? I'm not...let's all be thankful that at least Stardock will still be in the business of making good games...we could be facing a situation where Stardock flips like Firaxis did with Civ 5 and goes the mega-money, DLC, rush the release route...but we're not, we still got Stardock quality games and game support...
Knowing that things could be worse may not make you feel any better...you're either going to be worried about having your impulse account under the thumbs of Gamestop, or you're not...but I just hope we all still appreciate what hasn't been screwed up...
Because of this deal, Stardock will now be in a better position to make greater games...if I have to choose between a sketchy ESD through Gamestop or a crappy GalCiv III release, you can bet I'll go for the sketchy ESD before compromising the quality of a game I'm anticipating...in fact, if I had to choose between a good GalCiv III or an excellent GalCiv III but with sketchy ESD, I'd still go for the poor ESD if it meant I'd get a better game...
I know I have severely simplified the situation, but honestly we don't know what happened behind those closed doors and therefore don't have enough information to fairly judge Brad's decision...for all we know, Chuck Norris threatened Brad with a roundhouse kick lest he give Impulse over to the devil...this move may result in a poorer ESD...but it almost certainly will help Stardock develop greater products and retain its core company values...
Stardock is a rarity, a jewel in game development, and if we honestly expect it to continue its existence as the highest echelon of gaming we must be willing to accept sacrifices (like, I don't know, Stardock selling its retail arm that only distracts it from gaming)...Gamestop may not have been the best choice but who's to judge? I doubt anyone here other than Stardock employees know with certainty why SD choose Gamestop (and they may not have had much of a choice)...
There was a time when other companies like Firaxis or Bioware held themselves to the same standards as Stardock, a time when games held excellent quality on release date and were not simply remakes of their predecessors...slowly over time those great assets of gaming have lost their way...I'm worried about the next Total War game, the next CoD game, hell I'm even worried about Mass Effect 3...and I've given up all hope of seeing an Alpha Centauri 2 or KOTOR III...
But there's not a doubt in my mind that GalCiv III will be great...that is the power of Stardock...SD still has its mojo, and this deal ain't gonna take that away...