In a unique move, Stardock has merged its premier RTS Ashes of the Singularity, with its standalone expansion Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation. Today, if you’re looking on the Steam store for AotS, you can no longer find it. It’s now only possible to buy Escalation. If however you were a proud owner of AotS, you now get Escalations at no extra cost while owners of both get the upcoming DLC for free.

In a lengthy announcement, Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock, described the reasoning behind merging the two games as needing to “merge the community”. Partly this means merging the multiplayer, but also the modding community and tactics/strategy discussions too. This all makes a lot of sense, but I can’t help but think there is at least one other reason for the merger too.

Shortly after the release of Ashes of the Singularity complaints began to roll in from players were expecting the game to be more like a spiritual successor to Supreme Commander. AotS’s success along with these complaints was largely what drove the development of Escalation as an expansion. And it worked, Escalation was released, the players were happier, and the Steam rating for the expansion, went up, and stayed up, sitting at a much more marketable “Very Positive” (81%) vs AotS’s final and undesirable rating of “Mixed”.

On the whole, the move from a game with a stigma of disappointment attached, to a game that conversely is couched in big expectations and concessions for loyal customers, is a very good move market wise for Stardock. I know often convey a cynical view of corporations marketing strategies, but in this case, I think Brad has pulled some swift manoeuvring, that has benefitted his company image, and also the community too. Escalation players now have the best of both worlds, a slick multiplayer, and a massive RTS all rolled into one.