Though the official release date for Sword of the Stars is next week, the game is available now for online purchase, and a release-day patch is planned for when the game hits retail next week. Here's the deal:

Sword of the Stars (http://swordofthestars.com), the premiere release from Vancouver-based developer Kerberos Productions (http://kerberos-productions.com) hit the virtual streets last night with an early release from GamersGate (http://gamersgate.net). GamersGate is the online storefront of Swedish developer/publisher Paradox Interactive (http://www.paradoxplaza.com), specializing in strategy games from Paradox and independent developers. IGN announced on Tuesday (http://pc.ign.com/articles/725/725778p1.html) that Sword of the Stars would be available this week from Direct2Drive, the online store operated by IGN's parent company. GamersGate scooped them with a midnight GMT downloadable release of the game.

For those preferring a physical CD & box, Kerberos' CEO Martin Cirulis has confirmed that the game will be available in big box retailers Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, Micro Center, Target, and Wal-mart on the official North American release date, 22 August. A "release day" patch for Sword of the Stars will also be available Tuesday, with a number of minor bug fixes and added convenience features. That patch, along with a PDF version of the manual will be available to online purchasers early next week.