I have been playing games in the Space Empires series since Space Empires 2 in the mid-90s, and I have loved every minute of it. But I believe the demise of the fan-made Play-By-Web service for Space Empires 4 signals the absolute end for the series, and it has brought me to a decision.
The end of SE4 is sad, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. SE4 is a very old game. It's a shame SE5 never lived up to it.
Unless Strategy First releases the source code (they bought the franchise from Aaron a few years back), I don't think we'll see another Space Empires game of that standard.
That doesn't mean there can't be another one like it though.
The market for games with simple graphics that run on low-powered platforms like mobile phones and netbooks is booming. We can only hope that it prompts a developer to revisit the space strategy genre with something like SE4. I know I'd buy it.
I'm not a developer myself - I'm a writer and designer - but if any of you who can program wants to collaborate on a commercial-quality 4X space strategy project in the vein of good old SE4 (RIP), I'm willing to organize it.
Send me an email
If enough people are interested, a Skype conference will follow.