News

Real data backs Plymouth-made presidential campaign game

by Annalise Frank   A video game created in Wayne County has had some success predicting outcomes of U.S. presidential elections, including seeing former President Trump as the winner in 2016, its makers say. The big picture:  On Thursday,   Stardock Entertainment, a 30-year-old game developer based in Plymouth, launches the 2024 election edition of  The Political Machine . The company is known for  strategy games , including Sins of a Solar Empire. How ... [read more]

Dev Journal

Dev Journal #5: Declaration of Independents - The Political Machine 2024

With the full release of The Political Machine 2024 on May 2nd, we’d like to use this space as an opportunity to tease what’s coming up on release! We understand we’ve been missing a key player in this presidential election cycle and we wanted to be sure he was in for release. We’ll be introducing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into the fray! His introduction also comes with a new deck that we’re introducing - the Independent deck! Without revealing too much, some of the new cards introduced i... [read more]

Dev Journal

Dev Journal #4: What's The Issue? - The Political Machine 2024

The Political Machine launches May 2, 2024 The past couple weeks we’ve been talking through the major features introduced for The Political Machine 2024. With all the new major features covered, we wanted to now highlight an important part of the process in developing this series every 4 years, issue updates! First we figure out nationally what are the generalized current top issues as a basis of understanding. We do this by looking at a good number of national research polls and news ou... [read more]

Dev Journal

Dev Journal #3: Open to Debate - The Political Machine 2024

In The Political Machine 2024, we wanted to make a feature to focus on one of the highlights of the presidential election cycle, debates! Presidential debates are televised events where candidates vying for the presidency discuss their stance on policies and engage in discourse. The selection of states for debates typically considers factors such as their political importance, demographics, and geographic spread to ensure broad representation and impact. I am playing as Marianne Williamso... [read more]

Stardock Entertainment Announcements

Crains Detroit Business Interviews Stardock

'We're the most famous company you've never heard of': A conversation with Michigan's oldest video game developer By Anna Fifelski Brad Wardell, 52, founded Stardock Corp. in 1991 as an undergraduate student at Western Michigan University. Decades later, it is the largest software and video game development company in Michigan. Later this year, Stardock will release the fourth version of its simulation game, The Political Machine, as well as an expansion for Galactic C... [read more]

Dev Journal

Dev Journal #2: Primary Focus - The Political Machine 2024

In The Political Machine 2024, we wanted to challenge ourselves by including a new game mode outside of Presidential by introducing Primaries! The United States primaries are a series of state-level elections held by political parties to select candidates for the general election. It may not get as much attention as the general election, but is a significant part to shaping how the general election looks like. Especially with how the 2024 primaries season is shaping up today, we wanted to give ... [read more]

Stardock Entertainment Announcements

Get Up to 80% Off Stardock Titles on Games and Software

The Steam Spring Sale is Here -  Get Up to 80% Off* STEAM KEYS ARE PROVIDED WITH PURCHASE FEATURED TITLES ON SALE: Galactic Civilizations IV $49.99 Now $39.99   PRE-PURCHASE BONUS: The Political Machine 2024 Free DLC w/Pre-Order $19.99 Star Control: Origins $29.99 Now $8.99 Galactic Civilizations III ( Includes FREE: Crusade and Retribution Expansions, Mega Events DLC)... [read more]

Dev Journal

Dev Journal #1: PAC It Up - The Political Machine 2024

There’s a lot of overhaul and attention that we wanted to give to this iteration of The Political Machine series. From updating the art to modernizing issues, we’ve also made it a goal to innovate what we could do with the mechanics of game to keep things fresh and interesting. This brings us to one of the new systems we’ve introduced: the Political Action Card system or PACs for short! Why did we name them PACs? If the abbreviation looks familiar, it’s because it is - PACs in terms of the US... [read more]

News

Steam Playtest Now Available for The Political Machine 2024

Pre-order Customers can now Participate in the Steam Playtest  Pre-Order Now Pre-Order Customers;  Get into the Playtest Stardock announced that the latest iteration of its hit political strategy series, The Political Machine 2024 entered its playtest phase today. The g ame, which allows players to simulate a run for the American presidency, features an updated roster of politicians and introduces new gameplay mechanics that reflect the ever-evolving land... [read more]

News

Steam Playtest Coming Soon for The Political Machine 2024

Game Release Update / Playtest Info The game was originally slated to release later this month Feb 2024, however after much deliberation we have made the decision to delay the game to late Spring 2024. This decision was not made lightly. Due to changing dates in the political landscape, we felt our release best aligns with the late Spring date. Beyond that, the general scope of the original project has increased for the better, with a visual overhaul, new features and more. However, to e... [read more]