The galaxy is vast and full of wonders.
Take my hand, it's time to leave
From now on to eternity
We all know it gets hard to breathe
And how we got here's a mystery
So we leave the world we know behind
Behind
There's so much there to see
I hope you find what you're looking for
And you are not alone.
From now on to eternity
We all know it gets hard to breathe
And how we got here's a mystery
So we leave the world we know behind
Behind
There's so much there to see
I hope you find what you're looking for
And you are not alone.
Stellaris is a Science Fiction Space Opera real-time 4X Grand Strategy game by Paradox Interactive. It was officially announced at Gamescom in August 2015 and was released on May 9th 2016; in an unusual twist for grand strategy games, it later came to the PS4 and Xbox One on February 26th 2019. The game was developed by Paradox Development Studios and uses the same Clausewitz Engine that the studio has used since Europa Universalis III.
The game begins in 2200, roughly two centuries into the future. Featuring deep strategic gameplay, an enormous and highly customizable selection of alien races, and emergent storytelling, Stellaris has a challenging system that rewards exploration as you traverse the galaxy and discover, interact with and learn about the multitude of species you will encounter during your travels. The early game consists of exploring and colonizing, while mid-game activities generally focus on diplomacy and governing an empire. In the late game, crisis events can occur that have galaxy-wide implications.
One noteworthy feature of the game is the highly customizable setting even before a game begins. From the difficulty, to the size of the galaxy, to the number of AI civilizations... the player gets to decide all these, and more.
Stellaris is under ongoing development and has DLC released regularly, separating its post-release content in different types:
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Full expansions
Expansions change the game considerably; introducing new and improved gameplay mechanics as well as many kinds of flavor and various balance tweaks
- Utopia, released in April 2017 (Summer 2019 for consoles), adds options to radically change the nature of your civilization over time, as well as the ability to build your own mega-structures. This expansion was integrated permanently into the base game as of Patch 4.3.6.
- Apocalypse, released in February 2018 along with an update that overhauls the war system, adds planet-destroying Colossus superweapons to the game, allows players to build Titan-class starships (which were previously exclusive to Fallen Empires), expands interactions with Space Pirates note , and adds new civics that allow players to start out on post-apocalyptic Tomb Worlds or pristine Gaia Worlds. Patch 2.0 was released together with this expansion.
- Megacorp, released in December 2018, along with an update that focuses primarily on trade and the economy, adds a completely new government type in the form of MegaCorps complete with new unique civics based on different MegaCorp archetypes and a very unique playstyle, as well as the ability to make City Planets and a unique civic to make communist empires.
- Federations, released in March 2020, expands the federation system, adds a Galactic Community system that acts as a space United Nations and expands the amount of possible origins for fledgling empires that provide unique mechanics (with other origins coming with a free patch released with the expansion). It also adds the ability to build mobile starbases called juggernauts and the new Mega Shipyard megastructure.
- Nemesis, released in April 2021, adds espionage mechanics, the first player crisis path (Galactic Nemesis) themed around building up Menace to ultimately destroy the galaxy, and allows the galactic community to designate a member as a custodian to protect the galaxy from crisis, which can result in the custodian turning the galactic community into a galactic imperium. Patch 3.0 was released together with this expansion.
- Overlord, released on May 2022, expands the vassalization system for both overlords and their subjects. It also adds new megastructures, enclaves, and origins.
- Galactic Paragons, released in May 2023 coinciding with the 7th anniversary of the game's release, is a character focused DLC expanding the leader system with new mechanics, traits, and interactions, including the new Council mechanic, similar to the Council from Crusader Kings, to guide your Empire as it evolves.
- The Machine Age, released in May 2024, makes non-gestalt machine empires playable without synthetic ascension, overhauls machine empire ascension, provides more options for cybernetic, machine and/or spiritual empires, a new endgame crisis called the Synthetic Queen, and a player crisis path called Cosmogenesis, which is themed around reckless use of scientific methods to rewrite the laws of reality.
- BioGenesis, released in May 2025, features an overhaul to genetic ascension, playable Living Ships separate from space fauna, a new megastructure called the Deep Space Citadel and a new player crisis path called Behemoth Fury, themed around creating the ultimate galactic predator. Patch 4.0 was released together with this expansion.
- Shadows of the Shroud, released in September 2025, features a remastering of psionic ascension, an overhaul to breaching the Shroud with new mechanics and a new Shroud Panel, the ability to create both psionic hive minds and psionic machine races, and a revamp of the End of the Cycle.
- Nomads, released in June 2026, introduces playable nomadic empires who make use of planet-sized arkships as opposed to settling on normal worlds. It also expands on the Defender of the Galaxy perk, turning it into a full ambition path (essentially a Good Counterpart to a crisis path) dedicated to becoming the hero of the galaxy.
- Willpower, slated for Q4 2026, is set to expand on ethics with the introduction of ideologies, allowing empires to influence each other culturally rather than just through military force, and includes a new ambition path centered on ideological domination of the galaxy.
Story packs
Story packs focus on adding new unique discoveries to the galaxy.
- Leviathans, released in October 2016 (April 2019 for consoles), is a story pack adding several random encounters and events to the game, most notably the titular "Leviathans" which tend to fall into the Big Dumb Object or Space Whale categories.
- Horizon Signal, released in December 2016, is a free flavor pack which adds the Horizon Signal event chain written by Alexis Kennedy.
- Synthetic Dawn, released in September 2017 (May 12, 2020 for consoles), is a story pack adding options and story interactions for players who are interested in playing as a race of gestalt artificially intelligent machines. This pack was integrated permanently into the base game as of Patch 4.3.6.
- Distant Stars, released in May 2018, adds a new event chain about the mysterious L-Gates that lead to the distant L-Cluster, new exploration events, new unique solar systems, and new "Leviathans".
- Ancient Relics, released in June 2019, a story pack adding two new Precursor races (the Baol and the Zroni), forgotten Relic Worlds to explore, and archaeology so you can investigate the desolate ruins to uncover Ancient Artifacts and secrets for your empire.
- First Contact, released in March 2023, expands the events and interactions between empires and pre-FTL civilizations and includes new origins for civilizations visited by Ancient Astronauts in their past.
- Astral Planes, released in November 2023, with new events, tech, origins and interactions with astral planes besides the Shroud to explore time as well as space.
- Grand Archive, released in October 2024, introduces the titular Grand Archive as a new megastructure where the player can display specimens for a number of bonuses, and adds the ability to put space fauna in a vivarium where they can breed and be cloned into controllable fleets.
Species packs
Species packs add new types of alien phenotypes as playable options, also including new traits, origins, civics and ship sets appropriate to them.
- Plantoids, released in June 2016, adds various Plant Aliens, who come with a number of new traits exclusive to them and to the vanilla Fungoids.
- Humanoids, released in December 2017, adds more options for Humanoid Aliens, including some inspired by popular fantasy races like elves, orcs and dwarves. This pack was integrated permanently into the base game as of Patch 4.3.6.
- Lithoids, released in October 2019, introduces playable Silicon-Based Life in the form of aliens made out of living rock, who must consume minerals rather than food to sustain themselves.
- Necroids, released in October 2020, adds various forms of aliens based on The Undead, alongside various forms of raising the dead for an empire's personal uses.
- Aquatics, released in November 2021, introduces various types of marine aliens, ranging from conventional Fish People to more exotic forms.
- Toxoids, released in September 2022, includes many new aliens based around pollution and toxicity, with a focus on terraforming toxic worlds and short-term success for a long-term cost.
- Infernals, released in November 2025, includes new alien lifeforms themed around Playing with Fire, a new type of colonizeable volcanic world, and a new player crisis path called Galactic Hyperthermia, themed around burning the galaxy to ashes.
Other expansions
- Cosmic Storms, released in September 2024, expands on the concept of cosmic storms by adding a number of different types that can affect the galaxy in various ways, and introduced two new precursors (the adAkkaria and the Inetians).
- Scenario Packs, first introduced in Q4 2026, are small content packs featuring specific galactic scenarios with set themes and objectives, featuring both single and multiplayer challenges.
In addition to the game and its DLC, there are a number of other licensed tie-in products as well:
- An e-novel, Stellaris: Infinite Frontiers written by Steven Savile was released in 2016.
- Paradox teamed with TTCombat for a Tabletop Game, starting with a KickStarter campaign in 2019 to fund miniatures based on the Ether Drake and other Leviathans
. - Academy Games used Kickstarter to fund a 4X Board Game called Stellaris Infinite Legacy for 2022.
- Stellaris Galaxy Command, a mobile game developed by Gamebear.
- Ghost Signal A Stellaris Game, a VR Roguelike where you play the captain of a ship called the Aurora on a journey to investigate the mysterious Ghost Signal.
Paradox published Star Trek Infinite in October 2023 that uses the core systems of Stellaris but set in the Star Trek universe.