UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE: THE ARRIVAL OF COSMIC STORMS IN STELLARIS

A cosmic event is about to happen that will change the shape of interstellar existence as we currently know it. Paradox Interactive is set to release ‘Cosmic Storms’, the next expansion pack for their sci-fi strategy gaming masterpiece, Stellaris. Scheduled for release on 10 September for PC, it’s an update that will bring with it an entirely new dynamic to the Galaxy: a living, breathing system of cosmic forces whose winds and tempests could spell doom, or herald a new golden age of galactic ascendancy.

HARNESS THE POWER OF THE GALAXY WITH COSMIC STORMS

The cosmos is a wild place. In the galactic game, the most powerful forces are biggest. With Cosmic Storms, Stellaris players can embrace – or attempt to bring under control – these titanic forces of nature that crashes across the galaxy with unimaginable force. These galactic phenomena are not just background hazards: a path to power, or a means for transcending the flesh, or a powerful tactical weapon for eliminating enemies, Cosmic Storms promises to enrich the galactic game. Created in partnership with Behaviour Interactive, Cosmic Storms offers a host of new challenges and temptations for players.

THE TYPES OF STORMS UNLEASHED

What if whatever storms comprised your space empire were instead replaced eight times over by Cosmic Storms (Electric, Particle Gravity, Magnetic, Radiant, Stardust, Shroud and Nexus)? In the new scenario, the storms flow through the galaxy at different speeds, contracting and expanding, each of them with its own potential to reconfigure the cosmos.

THE ADVENTUROUS STORM CHASERS

The Storm Chasers: the new human empire Against the advancing forests of stars, a new human civilisation rises. They are the Storm Chasers, a civilisation of space explorers. To them, the wild Cosmic Storms are not threats, but challenges, and the ultimate frontier. Theirs is a new Stellaris origin story with a key new gameplay dimension: a direct engagement with cosmic forces.

GALACTIC INNOVATIONS AND STRATEGIC DEPTH

Cosmic Storms doesn’t simply add more to Stellaris’s galaxy. It makes it feel deeper. The additions are as follows.

• Three New Civics: study astrometeorology, worship the radiance of squalls, or rebuild your habitat with the galactic builders.
• Two Showcase Narratives: Delve into the history of those who lived before the galaxy was broken, who would ride the storms like steeds upon the winds.
• Extreme Galactic Tech: Everything from weather prediction and creation of Cosmic Storms to this kind of tech!
• Galactic Weather Control: The ultimate Ascension Perk, fulfilling humanity’s long-standing desire to be master and slave of nature and allow the creation of galactic storms.

SECURING YOUR PLACE IN THE STARS

For all those wanting to claim this universe for themselves, Cosmic Storms is available for pre-purchase at a price that won’t break the bank of explorers around the galaxy (€12.99/$12.99/£10.99). It’s also included in the Stellaris: Season 08 - Expansion Pack, a year-long set of expansions that delivers everything one needs to live the galactic story with every DLC to date. In addition, an Expansion subscription offer is available to those dedicated to never missing the action.

ABOUT THE GALAXY: A CELESTIAL STAGE

At the centre of Stellaris – and at the centre of Cosmic Storms – is the galaxy. No less than the human quest for discovery and exploration across the expanding frontier of the cosmos, the galaxy is a dynamic, beautiful and often capricious stage upon which the drama of life unfolds. Galaxies are where the ultimate quest for the self plays out. Galaxies are wonderous places – perilous, beautiful and strange. They are diverse and complex environments where the laws of physics manifest themselves in gorgeous and terrifying ways. Our team is not alone in wanting to explore the galactic stage. Stellaris puts players in command of a starfaring civilisation with a vast galactic empire to build up around their own home planet. From the starting location, they spread across the expanse of their home galaxy, colonising new worlds, searching for alien civilisations, and battling hostile extraterrestrials.

This is not simply an expansion. Cosmic Storms marks a resurgence – a return to the stars, and the realization that those stars are almost innumerable. This September, when Cosmic Storms rips through the Stellaris cosmos, players will be given the chance to recalibrate their galactic ambitions, their reverence for the unknown, and their unbridled lust for exploration. And when they emerge, they will do so not as the same extra-terrestrial empires they were before. Can you face the storm?