Brad Wardell
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, a software development and computer games company. Wardell's specialty is the design and programming of artificial intelligence and game mechanics for turn-based strategy games. Career. Early career. Wardell built PCs and worked as a check proofer while studying at Western Michigan University. He graduated in 1994 with a degree in Electronic Engineering, specializing in Computer Engineering. Wardell was involved in the design and implementation of "Galactic Civilizations" for OS/2, one of  the platform's few games. He led development of "OS/2 Essentials", followed by "Object Desktop", a package of utilities and desktop enhancements. Windows development. When the OS/2 market collapsed, he shifted Stardock to Windows, heading development of PC game "Entrepreneur" (now "The Corporate Machine") while coordinating the creation of "WindowBlinds" and other "Object Desktop" components. Wardell designed "Galactic Civilizations" for Windows and , which became GameSpy's Game of the Year. He subsequently designed "The Political Machine" and "", as well as two expansions ("" and "") to "Galactic Civilizations II". In 2012 he was the producer of "". In mid 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. Computer customization. Wardell is co-founder and webmaster of WinCustomize, a site specializing in the distribution of skins and themes for computer software. He is also an administrator and – through Stardock – the largest single shareholder of technology news site Neowin. He was a regular on the "PowerUser.TV" podcast, run by WinCustomize and Neowin, and organized the  GUI Olympics (later "GUI Championships"), a semi-annual skinning competition starting in 2002. Video games. Wardell is regularly interviewed by game industry magazine Gamasutra. In 2009, he was chosen as a judge for Intel's "Level Up" game demo contest. He was also a columnist for game websites "The Adrenaline Vault" and "Quarter to Three". 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. In 2013, he and Soren Johnson cofounded Mohawk Games to  develop strategy games. Their first video game was Offworld Trading Company. Author. Wardell wrote the fantasy novel "Elemental: Destiny's Embers", published by Del Rey to accompany "". 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 an exclusive campaign for the game. Views. Digital rights management. Wardell endorses digital distribution, despite the potential for piracy. He believes that while copyright infringement is an issue, blaming it for poor sales – and  insisting on "stupid" forms of digital rights management – "hides other underlying causes." Indeed, he argues that extreme anti-piracy measures "result" in poor sales: The reason why we don't put copy protection on our games isn't because we're nice guys. We do it because the people who actually buy games don't like to mess with it. Our customers make the rules, not the pirates. Wardell says any system of protection "should be completely invisible to the user," and that it is not enough to make a good product while disrespecting your customers: Stardock is consumer friendly  because we're a bunch of greedy capitalists who have recognized what should be an obvious truth: If you treat people as potential customers and not potential criminals you are likely to get more sales. 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." Media bias. Wardell has commented on the Gamergate controversy, stating that "The media should acknowledge that there's a problem and that their customers  are getting fed up with it" in response to a question about how the media should cover it. Awards. Wardell was a member of Crain's Detroit's 40 under 40 in 2003, and has been a finalist for Ernst & Young's "Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2002-4 and 2007. Personal life. Wardell has three children with his wife Debbie Wardell.