Stellaris is one of the biggest and best grand strategy games around, eclipsing the scope of even Paradox Interactive’s other works such as Crusader Kings 3 with an entire galaxy at your disposal. Since its launch in May 2016, there’s been a vast number of expansions stacked on top to make it even bigger, so keeping up can be quite daunting. Now, though, following in the footsteps of Hearts of Iron 4 and Europa Universalis 4, you can sign up for a Stellaris subscription on Steam to instantly get full access to everything it has to offer.
Stellaris is a truly magnificent adventure for anyone looking to take their civilization management skills to an interstellar level. Allowing you to build your very own alien race and spread your faction’s way of life across the stars, it’s a magnificent space adventure and one of the very best grand strategy games on PC. With seven expansion packs, five story packs, six species packs, and its recent Astral Planes narrative expansion all up for grabs, however, picking your way through all the best Stellaris DLC can be rather intimidating.
Arriving alongside the Stellaris Eridanus update and patch 3.11.1 is the Stellaris expansion subscription, which aims to solve that problem by giving you a way to access all the add-on content for Stellaris at a low price of entry. While the Stellaris ultimate bundle is priced at $290.49/£246.39, the subscription starts at $9.99/£8.50 for a month, although you can get three-month ($19.99/£16.75) or six-month ($29.99/£24.99) plans that offer you a cheaper per-month price for a longer commitment.
That’s a pretty big saving, then – at the six-month price you’d have to be subscribed for five full years to match the cost of buying everything outright. Alternatively, you could use the subscription to try out the various packs and then buy the ones you decide you really like, either now or in the next Stellaris Steam sale. It is, however, a little more expensive than the EU4 and HoI4 subscriptions, which are each priced at £6.69 a month or £12.79 for three months.
If that sounds like something you’re interested in – whether you’re a new player or someone who enjoys the base game but hasn’t kept up to date with its expansions – you can sign up for the Stellaris expansion subscription on Steam. For anyone yet to try the base game, it’s also available for free to players with a PC Game Pass subscription, and if you’re interested in grand strategy or running a space empire then it’s certainly worth a look.
Want to take your next adventure even further? We’ve picked out the best Stellaris mods to let you do just that. Alternatively, explore the stars in more of the best space games in 2024.
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