Hardcore PC gaming is under siege right now, for reasons so numerous that could fill up a whole feature on their own. Despite this, there are still hardcore PC gamers out there defending their medium and its various merits. While consoles have encroached upon various bastions of the PC gaming realm, one genre where PC titles still dominate is strategy games.

Numbered among popular PC strategy games are 4X (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) titles, which tend to deal in large elaborate empires, with classic examples being Masters of Orion or the Civilization series. On the other end of the spectrum we have real-time strategy games, where the fast pace of titles like StarCraft and Command & Conquer make for a significantly different experience compared to other strategy titles. There haven't been many good compromises between the twitch gameplay of RTS and methodical nature of 4X titles... at least, until Sins of a Solar Empire came out.

We caught up with Brad Wardell, CEO and President of Stardock, and talked about this "RT4X" title.

If conquering you is wrong, then I don't want to be right
According to the NPD, Sins of a Solar Empire has been in the NPD top 10 every week since its release on February 4. It trailed only Call of Duty 4 in PC sales for its first three weeks of availability, bumped down to the third slot only this past week. As a result of this, Stardock announced that Sins of a Solar Empire passed 100,000 in sales in just over three weeks.

Wardell confirmed that Sins of a Solar Empire has exceeded sales expectations. "We had made our estimation based on how well Galactic Civilizations II had done," he said. "GalCiv II sold very well so we were expecting similar levels with Sins."

"It's by far our best selling PC strategy game yet," added Wardell. "Each game we release seems to do better than the last. The first Galactic Civilizations sold a total of around 75,000 units (retail) total in its lifetime. Galactic Civilizations II has sold over 300,000 total units. And Sins will probably top 200,000 units by the end of next week."

Zoom in to see a starfighter. Zoom out to see a universe
What makes Sins of a Solar Empire so appealing to many is the ability to control a space fleet, resource acquisition and technological advancement of a federation of planets all in real-time. This hasn't been pulled off very successfully in the past because the detail of most 4X titles has only been feasible in a turn-based environment. The combination of competent AI and a streamlined interface have made this 4X/RTS game into a reality.

"Ironclad's Empire Tree innovation I think is the key element," said Wardell. "Without that, the scope would have simply been impossible to deal with. Being able to zoom in on a single ship and then zoom out to see multiple star systems in one fluid motion is crucial to the game's appeal I think. The Empire Tree (which lets users manage their entire empire - ships, planets, structures - on screen at all times) is what gives the user interface the ability to handle that scope without it becoming micro management intensive."

"A lot of PC strategy gamers have been asking for a 4X game that is in real-time," he continued. "I remember how people wanted Civilization in real time. But every time someone makes an RTS that is Civilization-like, it's very action-oriented rather than 4X oriented. I think the success of Sins has really brought home that there is a significant market for 4X titles that is untapped."

The game's quality has been such that it's garnered heavy praise from the gaming media. Along with receiving numerous Editor's Choice awards and an 8-out-of-10 from GameDaily, the game has averaged 89% on GameRankings.com. Criticism of the game has been mild, generally focusing on the involvement necessary in a game of this scope and the lack of a story-based single player campaign.

What gamer doesn't love space battles?

"[Ironclad is] extremely happy about [the reviews]," ventured Wardell. "I think that the critical acclaim of the game has justified the collaborative nature of the Sins game design process. Typically, publishers are fairly hands off on game design. But with Sins of a Solar Empire, both Stardock and Ironclad combined their strategy game development knowledge together to create a unique gaming experience."

Is it really a sin to commit orbital bombardment?
Sins of a Solar Empire didn't a blockbuster TV spot or anything of the sort, but it made very efficient use of its promotions. Since the game's announcement in late 2006, Stardock has fed gamers a steady stream of screenshots and information about the title. These grassroots efforts really energized the core gamers interested in the 4X/RTS strategy titles and helped make the game a hit.

"I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the game's high end graphics helped in previews," confessed Wardell. "Just as Stardock was involved with Ironclad on the game design, Ironclad has been very involved in helping us on the marketing end. They've created promotional assets that were simply far beyond anything we had put together. This, I think really made a big difference in generating early positive buzz on the game."

Sins of a Solar Empire is a shining jewel of PC gaming right now. Achieving success with a new IP in a new sub-genre is hard, but Ironclad has pulled it off. Judging by the game's early success, it seems likely that more Sins of a Solar Empire will be coming to our universe sometime in the future.