Bradley R. Wardell (born June 24, 1971) is an American businessman, programmer, author and AI engineer. He is the founder, president, and CEO of

Stardock Stardock Corporation is an American software development Company (law), company founded in 1991 and incorporation (business), incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch t ...

, a

software development Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...

and

computer games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

company.

Education

Wardell graduated from Western Michigan University in 1994 with a degree in

Electronic Engineering Electronic engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering that emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current flo ...

, specializing in

Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

Career

Wardell was involved in the

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

and implementation of '' Galactic Civilizations'' for

OS/2 OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...

, one of the platform's few games. He led development of ''OS/2 Essentials'', followed by ''

Object Desktop Object Desktop (OD; previously the Object Desktop Network or ODNT) is an online software subscription service created by Stardock for OS/2 and relaunched for Microsoft Windows, Windows in 1997. Object Desktop includes most graphical user interfac ...

'', a package of

utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

and

desktop A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

enhancements. When the OS/2 market collapsed, he shifted Stardock to

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, heading development of PC game ''

Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

'', while coordinating the creation of '' WindowBlinds'' and other ''Object Desktop'' components. Wardell was an early pioneer of digital distribution of games and software, despite the potential for

software piracy Online piracy or software piracy is the practice of downloading and distributing copyrighted works digitally without permission, such as music, movies or software. History Nathan Fisk traces the origins of modern online piracy back to similar ...

. Wardell was an early adopter of digital distribution culminating with the Impulse (software) sales platform. While recognizing copyright infringement as an issue, he felt that efforts to prevent it ended up making software more frustrating for legitimate customers. To this end, Wardell created a "Gamers Bill of Rights," released at PAX 2008. Gas Powered Games' Chris Taylor – who was working with Stardock on '' Demigod'' at the time – called the bill "an awesome framework for the industry to aspire to." Later, his digital distribution platform, Impulse, was sold to GameStop in 2011. Wardell designed ''Galactic Civilizations'' for Windows and its sequel, which became

GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...

's Game of the Year. He subsequently designed '' The Political Machine'' and ''

Elemental An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemy, alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsu ...

'', as well as two expansions: ('' Dark Avatar'' and '' Twilight of the Arnor'') to ''Galactic Civilizations II''. In the mid 2000s, Wardell continued to focus on the development of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

and

game mechanics In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics define how a game works for players. Game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide player actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, whi ...

for turn-based strategy games. In 2012, he was the producer of '' Elemental: Fallen Enchantress''. In 2013, Stardock announced that it had promoted Derek Paxton to succeed Wardell in the running of Stardock Entertainment in order for Wardell to have more time for other projects. These other projects included co-founding new game studios including Oxide Games and Mohawk Games with Soren Johnson. Wardell's goal was to encourage innovation and empower a new generation of 4X game developers. As part of this endeavor, Wardell founded the Stardock Staffing Company to allow developers and artists to work on projects between a coalition of game studios to provide better job security.

Computer customization

Wardell is co-founder and webmaster of WinCustomize, a site specializing in the distribution of skins and themes for computer software. Wardell was a designer of OS customization programs such as WindowBlinds, Fences (software), and

. He was a regular on the ''PowerUser.TV''

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, run by WinCustomize and Neowin, and organized the ''GUI Olympics'' (later ''GUI Championships''), a semi-annual skinning competition starting in 2002.

Video games

Wardell has programmed, designed or executive produced a substantial number of video games and is regularly interviewed by game industry sites regarding his views on technology, game publishing and trends. His particular expertise has focused on

parallel computing Parallel computing is a type of computing, computation in which many calculations or Process (computing), processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. ...

, AI, graphics APIs and strategy games. He has also presented at the Game Developer's Conference several times on topics ranging from code optimization to disasters in publishing. Wardell takes an approach to game development allowing users to view and influence the process of making games. Wardell is credited with multiple game projects either as a game designer or as an executive producer. Wardell is also an advocate for consumer rights for software and game customers and published th
Gamer's Bill of Rights

Designer

* Galactic Civilizations for OS/2 (1994) * Star Emperor (1996) * Entrepreneur (1997) * The Corporate Machine (2001) * Galactic Civilizations(2003) * The Political Machine (2004) * Galactic Civilizations II (2006) * Elemental: War of Magic (2010) * Sorcerer King (2015) * Ashes of the Singularity (2016) * Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade (2017)

Executive Producer

* Havok (1995) * Trials of Battle (1996) * Avarice (1996) * Stellar Frontier (1997) * Links Golf for OS/2 (1998) * Sins of a Solar Empire (2008) * Demigod (2009) * Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (2011) * Elemental: Fallen Enchantress (2012) * Elemental: Fallen Enchantress - Legendary Heroes (2013) * Galactic Civilizations III (2015) * Star Control: Origins (2018) * Galactic Civilizations IV (2022) * Political Machine 2024 (2024)

Publications

Wardell wrote the fantasy novel ''Elemental: Destiny's Embers'', published by Del Rey to accompany '' Elemental: War of Magic''. The book is set a thousand years after the Cataclysm, after the time of the game itself, and involves the quest of a former messenger to save mankind from the Fallen. The book came with a coupon to

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

an exclusive campaign for the game.

Reception

Wardell was a member of Crain's's ''40 under 40'' in 2003, and was a finalist for

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

's ''Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year'' in 2002 and 2007. Wardell has endorsed several criticisms raised by the Gamergate campaign, stating that "anyone reading the gaming sites has seen the trend over the past few years of activist journalism creeping in". In response to Ashes of the Singularity receiving a 4/10 from

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

and 69 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, Wardell accused journalists of having "some bone to pick with #gamergate", insisting that they "don't take it out on my game's metacritic score". Political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos voiced his support for Wardell, describing the media's unfair treatment towards Wardell that eventually led up to Gamergate. Gamergate pioneer James Desborough later noted how many game fans were primed to mistrust the media due to their biased reporting against Wardell, eventually leading to Gamergate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardell, Brad American video game designers American technology chief executives 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists 1971 births Living people Western Michigan University alumni People from Plymouth, Michigan Stardock 21st-century American male writers