Stellaris News

Paradox have today launched the new Season 09 Expansion Pass, which initially launches with the Stargazer Species Portrait. There's stuff that's actually interesting to come though, but you have to wait until May 5th.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/03/stellaris-4-0-phoenix-game-changing-update-due-may-5-with-the-biogenesis-expansion/

Paradox have announced that 4X space strategy game Stellaris's next major overhaul will launch on 5th May, alongside the game's BioGenesis DLC pack. The latter adds living spaceships together with new civics, traits and megastructures, but I'm more interested in the 4.0 update, which they're branding the "phoenix update" in that it aims to overhaul performance problems caused by other updates and DLC bloat, while making "guidance and pacing" changes with new players in mind.

It doesn't sound nearly as exciting on the surface as living spaceships, I'll grant you, but this is a 4X game, don't forget - the mythological firebird is in the detail.

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All of sudden, Paradox has just dropped a flurry of details about the future of Stellaris. Season 9 has officially begun, there are three DLC packs on the way, and the Stellaris 4.0 release date is confirmed. Biological shipsets are coming, as well as new Origins, Civics, structures, and Ascensions. We're also getting a revamped Shroud system, new events, and there's a season pass available today. The 4X world might be competitive right now thanks to Civilization 7, Age of Wonders, and Endless Space, but Stellaris is about to get a lot bigger.

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RELATED LINKS:

Stellaris 4.0 fixes the space game's performance problems with population rework

Stellaris console commands and cheats

Stellaris 4.0 will give Paradox space strategy game a much-needed 2025 overhaul

• Evolutionary Predators: Push the boundaries of Species Traits by unlocking and combining unique phenotype abilities to craft the ultimate adaptive empire.
  
• Starlit Citadel: Solve the mystery of your empire’s biological attackers while boosting hyperlane choke-point strategies with early access to the Deep Space Citadel megastructure.
  
• Wilderness: Begin as a sapient planetary ecosystem, a living gestalt of countless lifeforms united in harmony, seeking to spread its consciousness to the stars.
  

• Gestalt Hive Empires (also unlocked by Utopia)​
  
• Two biological Shipsets with distinct mechanics from traditional spacecraft
  
• Three new Origins​
  • Evolutionary Predators
    
  • Wilderness
    
  • Starlit Citadel​
• Civics​
  • Genetic Identification
    
  • Crowdsourcing
    
  • Familiar Face
    
  • Aerospace Adaptation
    
  • Shared Genetics
    
  • Civil Education
• Deep Space Citadel Megastructure
  
• Biological Ascension (also unlocked by Utopia)​
  • Expanded with BioGenesis to include a mutable tradition tree that reflects your path through Ascension
• Exploration of the effects of Biological Ascension on society
  
• Advanced Government Forms
  
• 16 new genetic Species Traits, including phenotype based traits
  
• Portraits that change based on pop strata and leader level
  
• The Splintered Hive Fallen Empire
  
• Two Diplomatic Rooms and City Sets​
  
• 7 music tracks
  
• And a new Player Crisis Path​ - Behemoth Fury

• Overhauled Genetic Ascension: Choose from three distinct paths—Cloning, Purity, and Mutation—and customize your evolution.
  
• Living Ships: Command biological starships that evolve alongside your empire.
  
• Player Crisis Path: Unleash the unstoppable Behemoth Fury on the galaxy.
  
• Three New Origins: Play as evolutionary predators, a sapient planetary ecosystem, or a fortress civilization.
  
• New Megastructure: Construct the Deep Space Citadel to control hyperlane choke points.
  

• Breach into the Shroud: Shape your empire’s spiritual destiny with a revamped Shroud system.
  
• Shroud Panel: Track your empire’s attunement and unlock new powers.
  
• Revamped End of the Cycle: The ultimate deal with the devil—can you delay the inevitable?
  
• Psionic Auras: Let your Shroud influence shape entire star systems.
  
• New Content: Origins, civics, ships, government types, and more!

• Player Crisis Path: Burn the galaxy to ashes as your empire thrives in destruction.
  
• New Origins: Unearth ancient kin or endure the scorching wrath of a dying sun in two new Origins.
  
• Volcanic Worlds: A new planetary class with unique districts, events, and archaeological sites.
  
• New Species & Customization: Ships, portraits, civics, and more!

• Habitats are now semi-functional in the Open Beta.
  
  • Habitats now derive their maximum mining, generator, and science district development based on the resources in the system. Orbital deposits grant 1 + (half their base value, rounded down) maximum district development.
    
  • Habitat orbitals are automatically constructed for free when a new district is completed on the central habitat complex, if one can be built
    
  • Habitat orbitals are now megastructures instead of dummy fleets, preventing them from being attacked (and therefore attempting to to flee from attackers)
    
  • Habitat orbitals now collect the resources from the deposit that they are built over
    
  • Habitat orbitals now have the same upkeep as mining and research stations, since they serve similar purposes
    
  • Habitat districts now take longer to build and cost alloys to build
    
  • Habitats now gain +0.25 Max Districts per Planet or Star in the System per Capital Building Tier
    
  • Upon converting MSI's ruined warship into a habitat, it is immediately colonised
    
  • Void Dweller empires now get +50% jobs from habitat districts. This does not currently include scaling jobs from jobs, but should in the future.
    
  • Voidborne AP and Void Dweller origins now give Habitat District cost reduction
    
  • Void Dwellers now get Civilians on game start
    
  • Added a Hydroponics Zone for Habitats
• Building and Zone Changes:
  
  • Replaced the Early Industry Zone with the Urban Zone. The Urban Zone currently accepts all buildings, limitations will be added in a future update
    
  • Default starting planets now have Basic Offices and Basic Research Labs buildings in addition to the Basic Factories
    
    • Basic Factories provide Laborer jobs and can be upgraded into either Alloy Foundries or Civilian Industries
      
    • The Primitive Factory no longer decreases the Job Efficiency of Bureaucrats, Physicists, Biologists and Engineers
      
    • Basic Offices provide Administrator jobs and can be upgraded into Administrative Offices or Temples
      
    • Basic Research Labs provide Researcher jobs and be upgraded into Research Labs. These Researchers are worse than Researchers from 3.14.
  • Administrative Offices now provide Bureaucrat jobs and no longer require a Unity Zone
    
  • Alloy Foundries now provide Metallurgist jobs and no longer require an Industry or Foundry Zone
    
  • Anglers now have a unique zone on wet worlds.
    
  • Civilian Industries now provide Artisan jobs and no longer require an Industry or Factory Zone
    
  • Research Labs now provide Physicists, Biologists and Engineers and no longer require a Research Zone
    
  • Temples now provide Priest jobs and no longer require a Unity Zone
    
  • The Autochthon Monument no longer requires a Unity Zone
    
  • The food processing facility building now gives some base farmer jobs.
    
  • Uncapped rural districts now support the correct zones
    
  • Zones now display an icon and tooltip stating that they provide building slots
    
  • Zones now have auto-generated tooltips stating the jobs that they provide
    
  • Adjusted job counts of Districts and Zones
    
  • Converted the Order's Demense to a unique zone for KotTG
    
    • Scaling Knight jobs are now given by Squires, instead of the Order's Keep. You will no longer get thousands of Knights from keeping the entire galaxy's population as livestock.
• Capital Buildings no longer state that they provide building slots.
  
• City Districts no longer state that they provide Building Slots
  
• Jobs are now filled in a more breadthwise manner - weighting still affects job preferences, but pops will attempt to fill all jobs of a strata instead of focusing exclusively on their dream jobs. Somebody still has to make the Consumer Goods even if you had your heart set on being a Physicist.
  
  • The intent of this is to alter the “land rush” when new jobs open up and to prevent certain economic death spirals. Let us know how it works out for you.
• Mastercrafter civics now provide extra consumer goods and trade to artisan jobs
  
• Rebalanced biologist jobs for normal empires
  
• Rebalanced Engineer jobs
  
• Reworked Artisan sub-jobs
  
• Fixed the modifier icon for some researcher modifiers not showing
  
• Researcher sub-jobs no longer show that they provide 0 naval capacity
  
• Increased the base Consumer Goods income for empires that use Consumer Goods
  
• Increased the food (or equivalent) and consumer goods income of default countries
  
• Laborer jobs are now Specialists that produce Alloys and Consumer Goods
  
• Rebalanced physicist jobs for normal empires
  
• More progress on the planetary UI.
  
• New Look for the District boxes in the Planet Summary Screen.
  
• Removed sound effect when interacting with enclaves
  
• Revamped initial tutorial events
  
• Move planetary automation button in planet surface tab
  

• Added documentation for new district_planet_modifier and triggered_district_planet_modifier modifiers for Zones
  
• Orbital and Planet Deposits now support habitat_modifier, which as you might expect from the name, applies a static modifier to the habitat(s) in the system.
  

1. Turn off your mods. They will almost certainly cause you to crash.
   
2. Go to your Steam library, right click on Stellaris -> Properties -> Betas -> select "stellaris_test - 3.99.2 Open Beta" branch in the Beta Participation dropdown.