So there's this company called Stardock that are mostly known for producing programs that make Windows pretty. They invested in a team called Ironclad Games who were working on the title Sins of a Solar Empire, and all up it cost about a million dollars. They released this game, at retail and online, with no DRM. There is an authentication key, however, that lets you download patches and updates that includes new content for the game.

Today, Stardock announced they have sold 500,000 copies. 400,000 through retail, another 100,000 through publisher Stardock's online platform to rival Steam. Essentially, this means that a title that cost 1 million to make, market and distribute, has gone on to earn (assuming that all sales were on the low-end US dollar [PAL region sales bump up the figure considerably] and assuming all sales are for the $39.99 price listed on GameStop and you've got...)

$19,995,000.

That's a hell of a turnover. It's well over $20 million, counting PAL sales, but hot damn, that is a lot of money.

So here's a big round of applause for Stardock, one of the few companies getting PC gaming right. They produce for the audience they have, for a wide range of hardware (read: old hardware), they release without DRM and they have plenty of support and content to add long after the game has shipped.