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Stellaris

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
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Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.
Stellaris
Stellaris cover
Developers
Paradox Development Studio
DLC Paradox Arctic
Publishers
Paradox Interactive
Engines
Clausewitz
Release dates
Windows May 9, 2016
macOS (OS X) May 9, 2016
Linux May 9, 2016
Reception
Metacritic 78
OpenCritic 81
IGDB 79
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, DLC, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions Cosmetic
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Continuous turn-based
Perspectives Free-roaming camera
Controls Point and select, Multiple select
Genres 4X
Art styles Realistic
Themes Sci-fi, Space
Series Stellaris
Stellaris on HowLongToBeat
Stellaris on IGDB
Stellaris on MobyGames
Stellaris on Wikipedia
Stellaris
Stellaris 2016
Stellaris Nexus EA

Stellaris is a singleplayer and multiplayer free-roaming camera 4X game in the Stellaris series.

General information

Official forum
GOG.com Community Discussions
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
Stellaris Wiki

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
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Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Galaxy Edition also available
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
GOG.com
DRM-free with some exceptions (notes may include more details)
Nova Edition and Galaxy Edition also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Nova Edition and Galaxy Edition also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Nova Edition and Galaxy Edition also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store
Xbox Game Pass for PC
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Nova Edition and Galaxy Edition also available. Grants Paradox version by linking accounts.
Download
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Publisher website (unavailable)
DRM-free with some exceptions (notes may include more details)
Nova Edition and Galaxy Edition also available. Grants Steam version by linking accounts.
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
DRM-free* version is downloaded through the Paradox Launcher; post-download the base game is DRM-free, while DLCs requires being signed in to a Paradox Account to authenticate ownership.
All versions require a Paradox Account for multiplayer.

Version differences

Standard Edition

The complete game. Premium editions only add cosmetic content.

Nova Edition

  • Digital Original Soundtrack
  • Nova forum icon

Galaxy Edition

  • Digital Original Soundtrack
  • Galaxy forum icon
  • Digital Collector's Book (e-book)
  • Stellaris: Infinite Frontiers novel (e-book)
  • Forum avatar
  • Signed wallpaper

Monetization

Type Notes
DLC The DLC include species, stories, units and mechanics.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Plantoids Species Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Leviathans Story Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Utopia
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Horizon Signal
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Nova Edition Upgrade Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Galaxy Edition Upgrade Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Anniversary Portraits
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Synthetic Dawn Story Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Apocalypse
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Humanoids Species Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Distant Stars Story Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
MegaCorp
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Ancient Relics Story Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Lithoids Species Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Federations
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Necroids Species Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Nemesis
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Aquatics Species Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Overlord
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Toxoids Species Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
First Contact Story Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Galactic Paragons
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Astral Planes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
The Machine Age Coming soon.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Stellaris\
Microsoft Store
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/
This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Stellaris\
Microsoft Store %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Stellaris GamePass\save games
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
OneDrive
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Use Triple monitors UI fix 5760x1080 (see Guide for other resolutions).
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
UI does not automatically scale with resolution, so UI Scaling must be manually-adjusted.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
2x-8x MSAA
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Configurable in settings.txt
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Configurable in settings.txt "mouse_speed=50.000000" (default)
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Controller types

Audio

Audio settings.
Audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
7.1
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
French
German
Italian
See here or here.
Japanese
See here.
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Thai
See here. Base game only.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Notes
LAN play
Online play
Hotjoin possible

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Server browser available, but no automated matchmaking.[citation needed]
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues fixed

Game launcher fails to start game

Beginning with version 3.0 and the Nemesis expansion, the game launcher may fail to start the game.[1]
Change display mode to Fullscreen Borderless or Windowed[2]

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c, 11
OpenGL 2.1
Shader Model support 3.0
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
64-bit only since 2.3 "Wolfe".
macOS (OS X)
Linux

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7 SP1
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i3-530
AMD FX-6350
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 460
ATI Radeon HD 5870
AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
Intel HD Graphics 4600
1 GB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible
Sound (audio device) DirectX 9.0c compatible
Other Broadband Internet connection
A 64-bit operating system is required.
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.11
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i5-4570S
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GT 750M
1 GB of VRAM
Other Broadband Internet connection
A 64-bit operating system is recommended.
Linux
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) Ubuntu 20.04
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i3-530
AMD FX-6350
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 12 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 460
ATI Radeon HD 5870
AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
Intel HD Graphics 4600
1 GB of VRAM
Other Broadband Internet connection
A 64-bit operating system is required.

References

  1. Steam Community Discussion - Game failing to launch - last accessed on 2021-04-23
  2. Steam Community Discussion - Game failing to launch (reply #8) - last accessed on 2021-04-23
    "This type of thread keeps popping up every couple of days, and most of the time the solution is to change the display mode to borderless or windowed."