Galactic Civilizations III is a 4X space strategy game that 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.

Worlds in Crisis introduces several new world events with ideological choices, new planet types, and over a dozen new planet features. Long-time players will find many new strategic options while players picking up the game for the very first time will also encounter exciting new experiences.

The free v4.0 update adds huge performance increases and makes vast visual improvements to the game's planets, both on the surface and from orbit. A massive list of additional balance and AI improvements also accompany v4.0, which is already in opt-in.

In Worlds in Crisis, players may encounter worlds struggling with crises from planetary mutations, to raging pandemics, to murderers on the loose, and much more. Each crisis tells a planet's story and the player's decisions on how to handle them will determine how it resolves in the end.

There are also several new planet types to explore, offering new and exciting bonuses for those brave enough to colonize them. Players might encounter a sterile planet that isn't meant for housing life, but is suited for the experiments of a mad scientist, or a beautiful and serene tranquil type world, perfect for retirement and tourism. New islands, continents, and landmasses provide many new options.

"Our community provided most of the feedback that shaped v4.0," said Stardock CEO Brad Wardell. "Thanks to them, we were able to review and optimize everything in order to make things run faster. We also worked in some performance improvements while still making the game look better than ever."

The Worlds in Crisis DLC will be available soon on Steam and through Stardock for $4.99.

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.