Well, one of the reasons was he left Stardock in Feb of this year, which was the same time the THQ auction was announced. And founded Conifer Games to work on a untitled 4x game. So I incorrectly guessed that Stardock was going to set him up with Homeworld after they acquired the IP from auction...

Well, he just turned 28 sooo, he has been coding since he was 8. He has remarkable skill at such a young age. He was making mods for Civilization III when he was still in high School. Now imagine him showing off some stuff for Homeworld to Stardock we don't know, yeah, it was a leap so when Sega or Ea wasn't mentioned, and Stardock came second. I thought that could be a logical choice. Like I said, a leap...

no offence.. but can anyone imagine him working on both his own game in a small team environment. and then get lumped with a big budget title.... rts no less? has he done rts before?

for that matter, why would stardock fund 2 bids?

My guess is Jon was going to be the lead on the not yet- announced game, though with Jon and Cari leaving I wonder if future Stardock plans are delayed.

Maybe something like EVE online/Dust 514 vibe? That sounds interesting...