Stellaris Development Will Slowdown as Paradox Considers What Future of 4X Space Strategy Should Look Like
Stellaris developers have listened to players annoyed by too frequent updates. The developers are also asking fans which features of the game are „sacred” and which need changes.
Stellaris development will slow down to allow the developers to contemplate the game's "vision" and provide players with "stabilization."
Stephe "Eldarin" Murray, the game director, shared his thoughts in another developer's diary published on Steam. Entry number 361 represents a kind of a restart, referencing the first journal from almost a decade ago titled "Vision," while also posing the question: what is Stellaris?
Vision of the game after 9 years
The dev essentially reiterated the basic assumptions of the project, which the team laid out in 2015, and indicated how they have been implemented.
- "The galaxy is vast and full of wonders" (which allows for the realization and experience of "every story, trail or player's fantasy" in the science fiction convention);
- "Stellaris is a living game" (a 4X strategy, albeit now enhanced with grand strategy and "roleplay" elements);
- "Every game is different" (which evokes a feeling of uncertainty and "curiosity" about what might happen during the game).
According to Murray, the most important thing here is the pressure on the players, because ultimately Stellaris is "their game." The creators pay attention to their opinions, and what they heard from fans in the context of The Machine Age expansion forced them to verify their plans for 2025.
Too fast since the times of "Lem"
This is significant because the studio has been working on long-term schedules and has been delving into add-ons for next year for a long time. The problem is that many people have complained about the "quarterly" release of new updates for Stellaris, stating that changes are introduced too quickly. It's not just about mods (which need to be updated for every new game version), but also about disrupting the player's ongoing gameplay.
That's why the team decided to change this strategy, used since update 3.1 "Lem." The studio has big plans for Stellaris but will hold off on them to let the game "stabilize." The new gameplay settings screen was the only exception, as it was completed more quickly and included in the Grand Archive DLC.
Beta, technological debt, and "sacred" features
Furthermore, the developer will allow players to test some of these big changes in a beta scheduled for Q1 2025. This will replace the release of the full update 3.15 and result in the next game version (around the May anniversary of Stellaris' release) being larger than before.
Murray also hopes that this slowdown will allow the studio to address the "tech debt" (a term that refers to when a company uses suboptimal software solutions to save money in the short term) that has accumulated due to the pace of Stellaris' development so far.
At the same time, the developer urges players to provide feedback on the game's vision: whether they agree with it, their opinions on specific systems, and which elements are essential to maintain the essence of Stellaris.
Fans were eager to hear Murray's advice, even if some of them had concerns given Paradox Interactive's recent troubles. Players are anticipating the results of the change in approach rather than grand declarations, even though the publisher was expected to reflect and acknowledge the mistakes made in recent years.
