For millennia our race has developed, explored and battled for control of a planet. Now we turn our eyes beyond our own solar system, to other stars in our galaxy. New planets, new discoveries, maybe even new civilizations await us. And Paradox Development Studio, the masters of grand strategy, will be your guides on this new voyage.

With a dynamic decision system and a heavy emphasis on exploration and science teams, Stellaris gives you much more to research than bigger lasers or stronger hulls – though you’ll need those too. Space is very big, and your first step will be getting a grasp of just what is around you and how it can be best used for the benefit of your civilization.

Paradox Interactive announced clusters of festivities across all Stellaris titles to celebrate the four-year anniversary of the popular sci-fi grand strategy game. Additionally, Paradox announced that in March 2020, four years after its initial release, Stellaris earned an all-time high for monthly active users and reached a milestone of over three million units sold. 

“We have always put the community first when developing and supporting content for Stellaris,” said Daniel Moregård, Game Director for Stellaris. “It is so rewarding to see this strategy help us earn the continued interest of a large and growing player base after all these years. Being able to reach a new all-time high right now makes the anniversary festivities feel even more momentous.”

Stellaris anniversary celebrations include:

PC - Free as an Alien Bird Species - With constant updates since its launch in 2016, today’s Stellaris is bigger, deeper, and more fun than ever with more players, more stories, and more adventures. Ordinarily retailing for a suggested price of $39.99 USD, the engaging gameplay of Stellaris will be available for free on Steam this weekend. 

PC - New Look, Who Dis - This free anniversary patch is available today and adds strong new visual elements and VFX such as Nebulas, Storms and more. Players can look forward to an updated look to the Stellaris base game to add a little more awe to any shock and awe campaigns.

Console - Now We’re Cooking with Fire - Console players can enjoy an update from Stellaris 1.7 to 2.2 including game-changing differences. This includes new sector systems, AI, resource management, anomalies, hyperlane travel systems to name a few. Each of these new features adds more depth, customization, and control to the player in creating your space-bound civilization.

Console - Invasion of the Robot Humanoid Catastrophe - Expansion Pass Two launches today giving console players access to three DLC starting with the Synthetic Dawn story pack available now with the Apocalypse expansion and the Humanoids species pack coming later this year. The pass can be purchased today for $24.99 / £19.99 / €24.99.

Mobile - Happy Cake Day - Stellaris: Galaxy Command is celebrating the Stellaris anniversary, in soft launch countries (Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and Canada) and globally in Open Beta for Android, with an in-game contest where players complete daily tasks in exchange for birthday cakes and rewards! Stay on the lookout for more mobile goodies coming this week.

Thousands of planets populate procedurally generated star systems giving you the largest possible theatre for performing the emergent stories that Paradox has become famous for. Customize your ships, encounter unique randomly generated races, and participate in advanced diplomacy that would make Picard look like an amateur.

And all in a beautiful and evocative star map unmatched by anything we’ve made before.

• Behold the enormity of space with procedurally generated galaxies and an untold number of planets to explore.
• Encounter a myriad of wild, quirky, and dangerous alien races who may prove to be crucial trade partners or conquering forces hellbent on enslaving your civilization.
• Take on strategic space warfare and resource management to ensure the survival and advancement of your empire.
• Explore scientific anomalies and uncover technological wonders throughout the galaxy to utilize them toward your own gains.
• Govern your own fledgling empire and secure your power and agenda through manipulating internal policies, factions, traditions and more.

Stellaris is currently available on PS4, Xbox One and PC (Steam).