Galactic Civilizations III is the definitive 4X space strategy game, coming exclusively to 64-bit PCs. Galactic Civilizations III stays true to the core mechanics while adding more depth and options for players to create their own immortal legacy as rulers of the galaxy. As an absolute ruler in Galactic Civilizations III, the choices you make shape your empire as it inevitably enters into cultural, trade, diplomatic, ideological, and military conflicts with your neighbors. Every empire has multiple paths of victory to pursue. Forging an empire so culturally influential that rival worlds defect to your cause is perfectly viable, so long as you can keep their dropships from landing on your core worlds through literal defenses or soft-power diplomatic maneuvers.

Galactic Civilizations III puts players in charge of one of several fantastical sci-fi races (including 23rd-century humans) about to begin interstellar colonization. Spreading your empire throughout the galaxy, unlocking the secrets of creation through radical scientific research, and building massive fleets of starships to defend your way of life is only the beginning.

As the age of expansion ends and the age of war dawns, you must navigate the waves of conflict crashing through the galaxy. Diplomatic channels may secure your borders, cultural imperialism might expand them peacefully, or you could do things the old-fashioned way through military conquest. Finally, the age of transcendence brings the struggle for galactic dominance to a fever pitch as mighty empires bring titanic forces to bear in the race for final victory.

Galactic Civilizations III v2.0 includes a new resource called Starbase Administrators, improved diplomacy, tweaks to the game's UI, balancing, and more.

"Version 2.0 is the culmination of many months of working closely with our community on the kinds of features players like but often don't get a lot of attention," Stardock CEO Brad Wardell said. "For example, the diplomatic AI is more sophisticated and plays a lot like a human would both in terms of trading and how they deal with the complex web of foreign relations. We also added a new concept called administration that is designed to let players have smaller empires that are competitive."

Among the other improvements to v2.0 is an AI "redlining" system. The computer AI will internally evaluate diplomatic trades and "redline" for feedback to the player in order to better evaluate its own trades. This process allows for a much more interesting and engaging relationship with the AI players.

Several changes to the UI offer up even more improvements available in v2.0. These include folding categories for auto-generated military ships, adding player-designed ships to their favorites, and showing important resources and turn information to both the planet and shipyard windows.
To see a complete list of what's new in v2.0, you can view the full changelog here.

The latest v2.0 update for Galactic Civilizations III releases during a special Steam weekend sale where players can save up to 75% off of the complete Galactic Civilizations III: Gold Bundle from January 26 - 30. Existing players can complete their collection while players who are newer to the franchise can pick up the base game (Steam, Stardock or GOG.com) and all of its existing DLC for one low price.

Galactic Civilizations III gives players far more detail in the textures, models, and overall look of everything from the planets they colonize to the fleets they command. New interstellar terrain elements on the hex-based map like black holes and mysterious Precursor relics change the way players explore the galaxy. A completely overhauled ship builder puts nearly every element of starship design in players’ hands, while the new resource system creates fresh opportunities to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.

Key Features:

• Incomparable scale: 64-bit architecture allows players to experience unprecedented graphical fidelity and variety, an entirely new level of scale, and opens the door for modders to add a virtually unlimited amount of content to the game.
• Completely redesigned ship builder: An overhauled ship builder puts nearly every element of starship design in players’ hands.
• All-new map features: Interstellar terrain from black holes to enigmatic Precursor relics change the way players explore the map and build their economies.
• Greater political intrigue. The all-new diplomacy system tests players’ cultural, ideological and diplomatic skills as they pursue the many non-military routes to victory.
• Multiplayer: For the first time, Galactic Civilizations players will be able to compete against each other via the Internet.