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The maker of one of my most favorite games, Malfador Machinations, was purchased by their current publisher, Strategy First. I’ve been a fan of Malfador’s Space Empires series of strategy games since I was in High School and discovered the shareware version Space Empires II on some BBS somewhere. I was a beta tester for Space Empires IV, and I’m currently a beta tester for the upcoming Space Empires V.
Malfador is a one-man show, and I think it’s good that Mr. Malfador himself, Aaron Hall is finally getting some financial backing. Space Empires has a vibrant grass-roots community behind it, and a lot of people are worried that Aaron could loose control of the franchise. There aren’t a lot of independent game developers out there anymore.
Press Release
Aaron’s Response
Shrapnel Forum discussion
Strategy First Forum discussion
The Shrapnel Forum thread is getting an incredible number of posts per hour right now.