Who among us doesn’t love to see a massive content update bring a game back to life? Well, lately, it seems that many games are seeing success from delivering brand-new content updates that breathe fresh air into their titles, as older games fight their way back up to the forefront of players’ minds with fresh new updates to explore. Most recently, the Steam bestseller charts saw the return of a sci-fi exploration game from 2016, which recently released a massive new free update alongside new DLC. The game in question is Stellaris, a galactic adventure from Paradox Development Studios.
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Stellaris came out in May 2016, but still sees fairly regular updates to its ongoing story. The game is currently entering its 9th season, which recently started with a brand-new massive free 4.0 Phoenix update, followed shortly thereafter by a new paid BioGensis DLC, which costs $24.99. The 4.0 patch arrived alongside the newest DLC, bringing a mix of new free and paid content to bring players back to Stellaris, whether they shell out for the expansion or not.
As you can tell, there is a ton of new content in this paid DLC, which is likely part of what’s sent Stellaris flying up to number 5 in the top bestsellers on Steam (not including free-to-play games and the Steam Deck console). That said, the free update is no small hotfix, either. Between the two, things are looking pretty different on there in Stellaris’ galaxy.
What’s New in the Latest Free Update to Stellaris
This massive update for Stellaris that came alongside the paid DLC offers plenty of new content in its own right. The so-called “Phoenix Update” adds a number of improvements to streamline gameplay and make Stellaris exciting all over again. Here are the highlights of what’s new in the free 4.0 update, which dropped alongside BioGenesis on May 5th.
- Pops are now grouped by species, strata, and ethic to streamline gameplay
- Pop growth will be simultaneous across all species on a planet
- Adjustments to Species Modification to let gamers specify a default template for each species
- Adjustments to the Trade Routes function
- MegaCorps adjusted to add new bonuses and adjust balance
- Improvements to Criminal Syndicates to improve playability and allow for Commercial Pacts
- Updates to Planet UI
- Ability to create District Specializations
- New Mammalinan portraits
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Those who opt into the new BioGenesis DLC will also get an influx of brand-new content from the paid expansion. This includes new Gestalt Hive Empires, new Civics, and new Origins, along with several new species traits, portraits, and more.
Clearly, players are excited to see these new 4.0 update changes in action in Stellaris, if the sales charts are any indication. In fact, the game has nearly doubled its average daily concurrents on Steam since the new content dropped. If you’re looking for a space exploration game to check it out, it might be worth visiting (or revisiting) Stellaris with all these changes and updates in place.
Stellaris is available for PC and macOS via Steam and on PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The base game normally costs $39.99, but is currently on sale on Steam for 75% off through May 19th. That makes Stellaris just $9.99 for the next couple of weeks, but only for Steam gamers. The console version is not currently on sale.
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