Following in the footsteps of its critically acclaimed predecessor, Sins Of A Solar Empire II will seamlessly blend real-time strategy and 4X gameplay to deliver a grand space conflict equal parts immersive and intense, while introducing a whole new level of detail and raising the bar on what it means to become the ruler of a vast space empire.

Sins Of A Solar Empire II will once again explore the tragic war between the desperate Vasari, emergent TEC, and vengeful Advent as their struggle leaves them exposed to much greater threats. Each race will further distinguish their play styles with unique game mechanics, new and reimagined units, extensive research trees, and refined sub-factions. You take the role of leader of one of the game’s factions in order to build a stellar empire using force, trade, alliances, subterfuge and more.

Players will need to evaluate real-time celestial mechanics, observing the orbits of planets and moons while expanding their empires and maneuvering fleets. Meanwhile, savvy battle commanders must leverage ship positioning and point defense turret tracking speeds to intercept swarms of enemy missiles. At every level, Sins Of A Solar Empire II is packed with new features, mechanics, and customization that open up a host of new strategies and tactics.

Stardock and Ironclad Games began Early Access for Sins of a Solar Empire II with a playable Technical Preview today. Anyone who pre-orders Sins of a Solar Empire II will be admitted into the preview, which begins with access to single-player content using the TEC faction.

“We have a lot of ideas on the game we want to try out and give fans a way to tell us which ideas work and which don't,” said Brian Clair, Director of Publishing for Stardock. “The goal is to take the feedback we get and iterate the game with monthly public updates.”

The Technology preview will focus on the TEC faction to get feedback from players on everything from gameplay to even trying out different UI art styles. 

"This early access will be much more like an old-school style beta program," said Clair. "We really want players to be able to give feedback early enough so that we can act on it which frees us to try out ideas that may be worthy of further development or alternatively need to be scrapped."

Some of the new game elements that will be available in the Technical preview include:

• Universe in motion: Play on a map where phase lanes adjust as planets orbit, closing doors to some opportunities while opening windows to others as the game progresses.
• Detailed tactical simulation: New turreted weapons track targets along firing arcs, simulating realistic limitations to fields of fire. Point defense weapons shoot down enemy missile swarms while stronger units help to block incoming fire to protect vulnerable fleets.
• Enhanced/Improved planet development: Tailor colonized worlds with a diverse planetary development system. Players can focus planets towards research, ship construction, mining, or other needs based on their position within the solar system.
• Diplomatic intrigue: Neutral NPC factions will help players develop their solar empires… or hinder them. 
• The new Iron Engine: The first build released publicly will focus on trying out the new, 64-bit, core-neutral game engine developed by Ironclad that supports tens of thousands of ships without any performance degradation.

Stardock and Ironclad are excited about the roadmap from the technical preview to release that will maximize the opportunity for players to be a part of the process.

Early Access, which will be included with all pre-orders, is broken into three key phases of development:

• Phase 1: Technical Preview — During this phase, the development team will be focusing on the foundational elements of the Sins II experience and trying out new ideas for feedback. The participants will have access to the Trader Emergency Coalition (TEC) faction.
• Phase 2: Alpha — During this phase, early access will focus on the implementation of multiplayer and the addition of the Vasari and Advent factions.
• Phase 3: Beta — The final phase will focus on polish, balance, fixing exploits, and visual fidelity enhancements.  The development team will be all-hands-on-deck preparing for the launch of Sins II!

Phase 1 begins today, October 27th, 2022, and curious players can get a glimpse of what is to come via the Sins of a Solar Empire II Early Access road map. Early Access will ultimately serve as a constantly evolving sample of the things that makes Sins of a Solar Empire II special: immense scale, a careful balance between the strategic and tactical, exciting new mechanics, dynamic map strategies with planets orbiting the sun, and a new level of visual fidelity — all made possible by the brand-new game engine. More information will be revealed in the coming months.

“Early Access is an important part of our development process,” Clair said. “It lets players experience the game during its iteration, which provides us with valuable feedback on what features are enjoyed and what might need some tweaking. It’s a collaboration that we really enjoy and value within our community.”

Starting on your homeworld, you begin by exploring your local system. Each area in the game is pre-populated, however, so to expand you will need to use force of arms. To do this, you’ll construct capital ships, cruisers, frigates and strike craft to take over the planets around you. With each world, you can increase your empire’s capabilities and specialize your planets. You’ll also build research stations to learn new technologies and to unlock new ships. Eventually you’ll encounter another major player and it’s at this juncture you must decide if you want to try and be friends or not.

Sins Of A Solar Empire II demands a galaxy filled with thousands of units - from individual missiles to colossal titans - all while maintaining high fidelity visuals and smooth frame rates. Powering this is a new, custom 64-bit multicore engine called Iron Engine 3. This bespoke engine will also go a long way to addressing long-standing player requests like seamlessly rejoining multiplayer games and improved modding.

Sins Of A Solar Empire II is in development for PC (Epic Games Store), currently scheduled for 2023/2024 for $49.99.