Impulse

Impulse is a content delivery application developed by Stardock. It was first released on June 17, 2008. The program is also considered as a multiplayer and digital distribution platform that succeeds Stardock Central. It is used as a facilitator for purchasing, downloading and updating a particular program. It also offers friends list, blogging, game matchmaking, chat, rankings and achievements to particular games.

Aside from being a platform for purchasing software, Impulse also offers users access to GameStop’s servers. This means that users can download the purchased software from any Impulse client. The program offers a storefront, which also supports territory restrictions, localized currencies as well as processing of refunds. Some of the developers/publishers that use Impulse storefront are Ubisoft, Atari, Iolo Technologies, THQ, AVG, Activision and more.

The program also serves as a software management tool. This provides users the ability to install, update and even uninstall downloaded applications/programs tied to the user’s account. This program also makes archives of all the purchased programs. These archives are stored on a backup medium that can be used when the user needs to revert to an older version. Impulse also provides game developers the ability to create API calls as well as ask information from Impulse community through the program’s Impulse::Reactor feature. This feature is a library that provides copy protection achievements, friend lists, accounts, chat, cloud storage and multiplayer lobbies.