Steam’s leading galactic 4X strategy game wants your help to make conflict more satisfying

Stellaris is one of strategy game developer Paradox’s finest works – a sprawling galaxy filled with potential that allows you to create and customize your very own alien races, growing and expanding across the stars. The space 4X game is a bit of a deviation from the studio’s more traditional grand strategy games – the likes of Europa Universalis 4, Hearts of Iron 4, and Crusader Kings 3 – but it remains one of their most popular creations to this day. As it continues to look to the future, Paradox wants your help to improve one of the most fundamental parts of Stellaris.

No matter how you choose to play, warfare is almost an inevitability in Stellaris. Like all the best 4X games, conflict doesn’t have to be your path to victory, but one way or another you’re going to be thrown into conflict from time to time, whether it’s to defend your own territory, to challenge a threatening rival, or to put a stop to a tyrannical conqueror before they get out of hand. Following its recent consideration about the future of Stellaris, Paradox community specialist ‘MrFreake’ puts out the call for feedback on the current version of Stellaris.

“Here on Stellaris, we work on rather long timelines,” MrFreake explains. “The content for 2025 has been in development for some time already, and while we can’t wait to share those things with you, our objective here is to inform potential future development.” The process is set to last for four weeks, and takes the form of surveys that you can fill out. “While having an open conversation worked really well for Dev Diary 364, a more structured approach is required for something that might sit for a year or two before it gets used, if it gets used at all.”

“At some point in the future, I’d like to see us revisit war and war resolution, and enable more of the scenarios that occur in the ‘Stellaris Cinematic Universe’ of our trailers,” game director Stephen ‘Eladrin’ Muray writes. “When the Gamma aliens attacked the UNE colony of Europa VII, the Commonwealth of Man did not wait patiently for an invitation to war before summoning the Apocalypse.

“More fluid rules around joining and leaving wars are needed,” he continues, “and betrayal is not supported to my satisfaction. Secret Fealty exists, but I don’t find it enough in its current state – other mechanics currently prevent them from seizing the chance for freedom at what would be the most opportune moments.” Whatever your thoughts are on the current state of warfare and its surrounding elements within Stellaris, you can share them now.

The survey is split into two sections. The first discusses the act of declaring and waging wars in general; the second has questions about war resolution – the act of bringing a conflict to a close, whether through victory, defeat, or a call for peace. There are plenty of individual requests, such as the impact of war, user experience, enemy AI, potential pain points, and suggested solutions.

You have until Thursday December 26 to fill out the form. The Paradox community team will be collecting all the responses, reading through them, and delivering a report to the developers to help guide future updates and expansions. MrFreake cautions that this survey, along with Muray’s statement, “is not a confirmation or guarantee that any topics discussed here will appear in the game at any point.” Nevertheless, it’s nice to have a designated place to sound off about what you like and dislike – and if it helps the game improve, that’s a welcome bonus.

If you still don’t own Stellaris, you can get the base game for 90% off in the Steam Winter Sale, which lasts through Thursday January 2, 2025. That means you’ll pay just $3.99 / £3.49. Head here to grab a copy now.

If considering conflict compels you, check out the best war games on PC. Alternatively, sink into some sprawling management and manipulation in the best grand strategy games, a list which features several of Paradox’s greatest outings.

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