Setting aside the jokes (and the pecuniary benefits to you), it is interesting to consider the ramifications of Empire on Apple II in 1979 or 1980. The only competition is early Infocom and Scott Adams games, simple arcade games like Apple Panic, and early adventure games like Temple of Apshai, Wizard and the Princess, and Beneath Apple Manor. You're even ahead of important early Apple titles like Choplifter, Lode Runner, Ultima, and David's Midnight Magic. As successful and important as those games are, I daresay that Empire is far more addictive and compelling than all of them put together.
As successful as Interplay's PC version was in our timeline, its effect was diluted in the sense that by 1985 there was far more competition for attention and the videogame dollar. Empire in 1980 is ... well, I can only compare the effect to throwing chum into a pool filled with sharks. I do not hesitate in stating that you and your creation (Promoting war!!!) might very well have been the target of a significant moral panic.
Yeah, I was a moron to not port it to the Apple II. It was suggested to me more than once. I have no excuse.
It was, however, 1987's game of the year, selected by Computer Gaming World.