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Stellaris is getting a free weekend & sale as part of its 6th anniversary

Paradox Interactive is celebrating the sixth anniversary of space 4X game Stellaris by putting the game on sale and making it free to play this weekend.

TJ Denzer

May 20, 2022 11:30 AM

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It's been over six years of 4X space pioneering and the various trials and tribulations a budding interstellar civilization faces since Stellaris came out on May 9, 2016. Paradox Interactive has brought plenty of extra content to the game in the years it’s been out, including planet-sized leviathans, sentient robot races, massive universe-scale wars, and more. As it crosses its sixth year of gameplay, Paradox is inviting new players to see what the game has for them. Stellaris is getting a free weekend and a sale to go with it.

Paradox Interactive announced Stellaris’ free weekend and sale in a sixth anniversary trailer on the game’s YouTube channel. From May 19 up to May 23, players can download and play the base Stellaris game for free via Steam. During that time, players can take one of the premade civilizations in the game or create one of their very own and take to the stars to colonize systems, upgrade their technology, terraform new planet, interact, negotiate, and war with other spacefaring civlizations, and engage in the overall politics of the universe.

You won’t be able to play any of the DLC for Stellaris during the free weekend, but you can get your hands on both the base game and bundles with the DLC for cheap during this weekend. Stellaris itself is only $8 USD (80 percent off) or you can get Stellaris and all of the DLC it has featured through the years, including the Utopia, Apocalypse, Leviathans Story Pack, and Synthetic Dawn Story Pack for just under $38 (normally around $100 altogether). Other DLC such as the more recent Nemesis expansion is also available with a discount.

Either way, if in its six years you’ve been on the fence about Stellaris, it’s a great weekend to check out the game. Following that, if you enjoy it, you can pick it up on the cheap as well. Grab it while you can and get a taste of what this 4X space race has to offer.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.