Sins of a Solar Empire was one of the sleeper hits of last year, sneaking up on PC gamers and slowly pulling them in - trapping them within the 4XRTS universe. Part of this was down to the fantastic game design and awesome interface which allowed easy scaling of battlefields.
The rest though may have been down to the utter lack of DRM - the game has become infamously popular among anti-DRM types (damn hippies!) for it's lack of copy protection and effective online distribution model.
Now though, as the game prepares for a retail release in the UK, Bit-tech.net pause just long enough to ask Ironclad Games' co-owner Craig Fraser a few questions.
Game Rant gets an exclusive look at Sins of a Solar Empire 2's new population mechanic that refines and expands the system from its predecessors.
Game Rant chats with Sins of a Solar Empire 2 producers about how modders have helped shape the game from within and without.
Edward Angell of Gamer Professionals writes: 4x games have come a long way in the past few years. Let's talk about why they are successful and what we can look forward to in this epic genre.