Stardock knows PC gamers. The company has been doing well by its core audience for quite some time now, and now has even more good news for the true believers: company CEO Brad Wardell has revealed that he is eying the classic PC franchises Star Control and Master of Orion for updates in the coming years.

Wardell revealed his plans to Gamasutra, saying that many of these classic franchises aren't getting the proper treatment that they deserve. "I actually pitched Atari on a whole idea for a true successor to Star Control," Wardell said. A sequel to Star Control was in the planning stages for original developer Toys for Bob with Activision, but the plans have come to a stand-still. Master of Orion would be another franchise on the company's hit list. "We'd like to do a Master of Orion 4," said Wardell. "It would be an updated Master of Orion 2. There would be more to it, but that would be the basis of it."

Stardock's track record indicates that the company is more than capable of resurrecting these franchises in a way that would resonate with PC gamers, but it seems that the big publishers may be unwilling to move. One wonders if Stardock's open stance on DRM and recent "Gamers Bill of Rights" have caused big-name publishers to shy away from the company, or if Activision just isn't sure it could release the game across five consoles and then release a sequel every eight months.