Stardock has been developing and publishing PC games for over 30 years. In recent years, it has primarily focused on publishing its own titles as well as titles made by close partners such as Ironclad Games and Oxide Games. In doing so, it has developed a great deal of experience in marketing and publishing and is now looking to offer these capabilities to a handful of promising new titles.

"Over the last few years, we have increasingly seen outstanding new games, after years of development, be released to silence," said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock Entertainment. "Making a great game is hard enough, let alone ensuring people know about it, ensuring it has a solid testing plan, providing good technical support for customers, delivering strong post-release development are just a few of the prerequisites for a successful title. And that is hard-won experience we have developed that we want to share with the next-generation of game developers."

In 2025, over 25,000 games were released on Steam. In 2026, that number is expected to dramatically increase. With over a hundred games released a day, many potentially great games are buried.

"Think of some of the breakout hits of ten years ago," continued Wardell. "What would have happened if they were released today? They'd get lost in the daily release noise."

Making an excellent game is a prerequisite for success. However, it is no longer the only requirement. Developers are expected to be marketers, community managers, QA leads, sales coordinators, DLC planners, Creator and Influencer managers, etc.

"What sets Stardock apart from other publishers is that we're a developer too," said Wardell. "That means we can lend developer and art support to games before and after release."

Successful game titles in recent years have seen their user bases grow due to long-term support, reasonable DLC policies and the cultivation of the game's player community.

Stardock's multi-layered publishing approach of leveraging its marketing capabilities, combined with being able to provide development support for existing games, allowed Ashes of the Singularity II to come out of Steam Next Fest as the top real-time strategy game and finished in the top 1% of all titles on Steam in terms of new wishlists and downloads.

"That doesn't happen by accident," said Adrian Wright, General Manager of Oxide Games. "Stardock ran the entire marketing campaign, creator outreach, community management, store page strategy, all of it, while we stayed focused on making the game. That's what a good publishing partner does. They don't just distribute your game; they make sure the right people know it exists."

To ensure that each published title gets the attention and resources it deserves, Stardock will only be signing three titles per year.

"The goal here is that players will know, if it's published by Stardock, it is going to be excellent," said Wardell. "We are looking to partner up with developers who are looking for an ongoing, long-term partnership."

Independent developers working on strategy, RPG, or simulation titles who are interested in learning more should reach out.