Stellaris | |
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Developer(s) | Paradox Development Studios |
Publisher(s) | Paradox Interactive |
Director(s) | Henrik Fåhraeus Rikard Åslund |
Producer(s) | Anna Norrevik |
Designer(s) | Henrik Fåhraeus Joakim Andreasson Daniel Moregård Johan Andersson |
Artist(s) | Fredrik Toll |
Composer(s) | Andreas Waldetoft |
Engine | Clausewitz Engine |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux |
Release |
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Genre(s) | 4X, grand strategy |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Stellaris is a 4X grand strategy video game developed and published by Paradox Interactive. Stellaris's gameplay revolves around space exploration, managing an empire, and diplomacy and warfare with other spacefaring civilizations. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux on May 9, 2016.
Stellaris is a real-time grand strategy game set in space in the year 2200. Players control ships and research vessels among other things, combat is more centered towards the bigger picture, preparation, and strategy. There are also diplomatic options such as alliances and trade agreements with other races. The game begins by picking a species, its ethics, and its technologies. Picking an alien and changing their ethics can change the way information looks; and any species can have any of the ship engineering styles. The player begins with a single planet in their territory, an engineering vessel, a small fleet of warships, a space port, and a science ship. Early gameplay consists of exploring and colonizing space, while mid-game activities focus on diplomacy and governing an empire. In the late game, crisis events can occur that have galaxy-wide implications—for example, an uprising by sentient AI robots or an invasion by extra-dimensional or extra-galactic forces, the former two always being triggered by careless empires. Paradox hoped that this would address a common late-game problem in 4X style games; whereby one faction is so powerful that their eventual victory is inevitable, resulting in frustrating gameplay.
Stellaris was developed by Paradox Development Studios and published by their parent company, Paradox Interactive. The game uses the same Clausewitz Engine that the studio has used since Europa Universalis III in 2007, albeit with some modifications, such as the usage of physically based rendering (PBR). It was officially announced at Gamescom in August 2015. Stellaris was released to the public on May 9, 2016.