Paradox Interactive has announced The Machine Age expansion for its strategy sim, Stellaris. While no release date was revealed, we do know a few things thanks to a new trailer that sets the stage for the expansion content. In it, players will choose to ascend their empires into synthetic or cybernetic beings. The expansion will be released alongside the game’s v3.12 “Andromeda” update sometime in Q2 2024.
The expansion content is packed with lore about how both Cybernetic and Synthetic Ascension can affect society within each player’s empire. Players will gain access to new, advanced government forms, six new civics, and two new mid-game structures. The expansion also offers players a second player crisis path focused on technological ascendancy “at any cost.”
Features include
- Individualistic Non-Gestalt Machine Empires
- Gestalt Machine Intelligence Empires (also unlocked by the Synthetic Dawn Story Pack)
- Three new Origins
- Cybernetic Creed
- Synthetic Fertility
- Arc Welders
- Civics
- Guided Sapience
- Natural Design
- Obsessional Directive
- Protocol Droids
- Tactical Cogitators
- Augmentation Bazaars (Requires Megacorp)
- Two Mid-Game Structures
- Arc Furnace
- Dyson Swarms
- New Ascension Paths for Machine Empires
- Cybernetic and Synthetic Ascension (also unlocked by Utopia)
- Exploration of the effects of the cyberization or synthesization of society, with Advanced Government Forms for those who complete it.
- New Species Traits for Cyborgs, Machines and Robots
- Cybernetic portraits that change based on advancement through cyberization
- Synthetic portraits with both organic and synthetic variants that changed based on synthesization, usable by either organics or machines
- Two new Shipsets, Diplomatic Rooms, and City Sets
- 7 new music tracks synthetic and cybernetic inspired music tracks
- A new Player Crisis Path
- …And a new End-Game Crisis.
Check out the announcement trailer before heading to the Stellaris Steam page for more information.
