Stellaris remains one of Steam’s finest 4X strategy games, pushing you to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate across the galaxy. But have you ever wondered if there’s room for one more X in there? Our prayers have been answered, courtesy of the fast-paced, Paradox-published spinoff Stellaris: Nexus from developer Whatboy Games. Now given a new name, Nexus 5X announces its 1.0 Steam release date will arrive just four months after its early access launch.
It was always bound to happen eventually. Long ensconced as one of the most beloved strategy genres boasting games like Civilization 6, Age of Wonders 4, and the recent Solium Infernum, the best 4X games have always stuck by that defining four-word manifesto. But Nexus 5X makes the bold leap to change that, in something Whatboy Games is now calling “the world’s first 5X game: explore, exploit, expand, exterminate, express.”
That new word is specifically in relation to the pace of its matchups. For those of you who haven’t followed the early access of the game formerly known as Stellaris: Nexus, studio director Dax Ginn explains its motives. “Nexus 5X brings all of the deep strategy, diplomatic intrigue, and interstellar space battles of a full-fat sci-fi 4X, but played start to finish in about an hour.”
With an impressive 95% Steam user rating during its early access period, it seems that the formula is working well. So if you and your friends have been craving those long weekends spent playing vast, sprawling campaigns but life simply doesn’t hand you the time any more, Nexus 5X might just be what you’ve been looking for.
Nexus 5X launches out of early access on Steam Thursday April 18. The release of version 1.0 will see its price increased to $19.99/£16.99, but if you buy it now during early access you can snag it for the lower price of $14.99/£12.99, which will carry over to the full release.
If that’s not enough, there’s no shortage of the best strategy games to keep your mind ticking over, or you can find plenty of other places to explore among the stars in the best space games available right now.
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