Naming the Stellaris 4.0 update ‘Phoenix’ was supposed to be a nod to the nine-year-old 4X space game’s rebirth from the ashes. Landing alongside the Biogenesis DLC, the patch promised to give the strategy game new life courtesy of major, sweeping system overhauls from developer Paradox. Yet it’s become a more of a literal descriptor than expected, as game director Stephen ‘Eladrin’ Muray admits that 4.0 arrived “a little bit on fire.” In a new developer blog, Muray apologizes for disappointing players with the undercooked update, and promises that the team is focusing on fixes.
You might look at the Steam reviews for new Stellaris DLC Biogenesis and assume that it had fallen flat, but the reverse is true. The expansion is being hailed among many user reviews as one of the strongest additions to the 4X game in both its thematic and mechanical design. Yet sweeping bugs, lag issues, and crashes associated with the 4.0 update have seen Biogenesis lumbered with a ‘mostly negative’ review score on the Valve platform.
“Biogenesis is a fantastic expansion and I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished with it,” Muray writes in Stellaris Dev Diary 383. “But I have to be honest, like its namesake, the free patch alongside Biogenesis has been a little bit on fire. During the lead-up to the release, I was confident that we would be able to finish the revamp and clean up the most critical bugs. We fell short of that goal, and we’re committed to continuing to fix things until the 4.0 release is in the state it needs to be in.”
Muray admits there was a consideration about delaying the release, but says he was eager to keep its launch as far as possible from the summer holidays. “I was concerned about repeating a 2.2-style situation, where we couldn’t provide full support for the game after launch and it remained broken for too long,” he explains.
“Like the 2.2 changes, however, I strongly believe that the system changes in 4.0 improve Stellaris and will give us the platform we need to rise from those ashes and grow for years,” Muray continues. The update delivers sweeping adjustments to the way pops and trade routes work, with the intent of helping Stellaris run much more smoothly in late-game while also opening the door to future improvements.
Several hotfixes have already rolled out to help squash some of the most significant issues, but the work is still underway. Another big update, Stellaris 4.0.5, is set to roll out on Thursday May 8, and that will also mark the beginning of a free weekend on Steam. Muray concludes by saying that the team is currently working on a memory-related issue causing gradual slowdowns as you play, and is also in the middle of a more comprehensive localization pass for new additions. “I’m incredibly thankful for the passion of our fans and apologize for disappointing you.”
If you do decide to try Stellaris while it’s a free Steam game this weekend, and enjoy it enough that you want to keep going, there’s an ongoing Steam sale discount available to take advantage of. Stellaris is 75% off on Steam through Monday May 19, so expect to pay $9.99 / £8.74 for your copy until then.
For more adventures among the stars, launch yourself into one of the best space games on PC. If you’d like to test your tactics across even more fields of play, here are the best grand strategy games in 2025.
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