Gamestop buys Impulse, Stardock to remain separate

[Krauser]

Huge news today. One of the "steam alternatives" now owned by a conglomerate.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/31/ga...riously-it-bo/

[Xiahou]

I'm still hoping this is just an early April Fool's joke.
I loathe Gamestop....

link & link

[drone]

I have a feeling this will end badly. Is there another way to get downloadable patches for existing Stardock games?

[Crazed Rabbit]

Yeah, I've never actually shopped at Gamestop because I make a point of not getting ripped off. But I think this will just end up making Impulse a worse service.

EDIT:
Here's some fun stuff:
They sell used games as new:
http://kotaku.com/#!5205385/gamestop...uld-be-illegal
They sell your pre-ordered game to a walk in customer:
http://kotaku.com/#!385487/your-game...be-meaningless

CR

[Xiahou]

I remember hearing before how Impulse was working on technology to allow for a used market for digitally purchased content. No doubt that prospect was too much for Gamestop to miss out on.

[Monk]

I don't like it. No sir, not one bit.

Don't get me wrong I'm sure this is great for Impulse. Gamestop can throw its weight behind the service and help improve the catalog of games they claim, which (along with its hit and miss customer support) has always been impulse's Achilles Heal. But there's something about the deal that gives me a sour taste. Not sure what it is...

Also, if this turns out to be an early April Fools joke i wouldn't be surprised either - but Stardock doesn't strike me as that kind of company. I don't think they've ever done anything like that in the past.

[Crazed Rabbit]

An interview with Brad Wardell re: this;
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/04/01/in...e-to-gamestop/

CR

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

“Who would be the best partner for Impulse? Someone who knows retail and knows games really well.” And GameStop was the ideal candidate to team up with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsuAKtHwny4

Hopefully this lets Stardock just work on games. I mean, Impulse is probably doomed, but whatever.

[Greyblades]

Great, now, instead of a neccissary evil, steam is starting to seem like the appealing option.

[Xiahou]

“Who would be the best partner for Impulse? Someone who knows retail and knows games really wellcomes to me with a dump truck full of cash.” And GameStop was the ideal candidate to team up with.

fixed.

Great, now, instead of a neccissary evil, steam is starting to seem like the appealing option.

What concerns me is what will happen the the games I currently have on Impulse? I think it's almost a given that Gamestop will at some point rewrite the ToS and ratchet up the DRM. I hope Stardock at least has the sense to make their games/patches available via other means in the future- ideally distributing their own games.

Also the MP in their recent games was built on Impulse Reactor- which they sold to Gamestop...

[Monk]

More from this. Looks like one indie dev(Blind Mind Studios, makers of Star Ruler) is incredibly troubled by Gamestop taking over. They've pulled their game from impulse and had a few choice words.

Last week’s news that US high street gaming market-choker Gamestop had acquired the Impulse download service from Stardock caused a whole lot of shock in these parts. Looks like PC gamers weren’t the only ones a little troubled by the news; Star Ruler dev Blind Mind Studios has pulled its sci-fi grand strategy game from the digital store in protest.

“We are ending sales through Impulse due to GameStop’s long, negative behavior toward the PC platform and independent games,” wrote the studio’s lead developer on the Blind Mind Site.

“We would never have signed onto distribution through GameStop, and being forced into this situation has only made it worse for us. We feel GameStop cannot serve as the leader of a true competitor in the digital distribution market.”

Also:

“GameStop’s business practices stand opposed to our goals.
We feel they would not respect our customers.
GameStop consistently focuses only on large budget titles and safe bets, shying away from the independent market.
We supported Brad Wardell’s direction of Impulse, and his absence ruins our faith in the service’s future.”

We don’t really know what Gamestop will do with Impulse, but it is true to say that they don’t exactly have a rich history of supporting outside bets, esoterica or even simply niche markets. Perhaps the Impulse acquisition is a sign that they’re going to broaden their scope, but we shall see. Stardock boss Bard Wardell told RPS last week that such misgivings may be unfounded: “It’ll certainly be good news for independent developers who have traditionally found it difficult to get large-scale distribution but couldn’t get onto retail shelves.” Hmm.

Those who have purchased Star Ruler via Impulse will still receive patches, Blind Mind claim, but you can’t buy the thing there any more. It remains available on Steam, GamersGate and Direct2Drive, however.”

It'll be interesting if anyone follows suit. You can read the original post that started all this at the Blind Mind Studios forums here. I especially like where they commit to anyone having already bought their game through impulse.

[Xiahou]

We don’t really know what Gamestop will do with Impulse, but it is true to say that they don’t exactly have a rich history of supporting outside bets, esoterica or even simply niche markets. Perhaps the Impulse acquisition is a sign that they’re going to broaden their scope, but we shall see.

Those are my feelings on the matter exactly. I'm not planning on buying anything further from Impulse until the dust settles. It's really hard(impossible?) to trust Gamestop to do the right thing on this.