Stellaris free this weekend as 10th-anniversary sale runs

Paradox Interactive is offering its space strategy game Stellaris free to play from now through Monday, June 22. The studio is also discounting the full game by 70% through Thursday, June 25. Free access ends Monday, June 22 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. BST / 7 p.m. CEST.

After the discount the full game is expected to cost $14.99 or £12.59. Paradox sells a subscription that provides access to the studio’s complete Stellaris catalogue for $9.99 or £8.50 for one month, and $29.99 or £24.99 for six months.

The current build of Stellaris includes the 4.4 “Pegasus” update and the Nomads expansion. Major prior changes include the 4.0 “Phoenix” update in 2025, which redesigned population handling. Recent patches have adjusted unit and empire statistics, tightened enemy AI behavior, and added the ability to join and leave wars in progress.

Game Director Stephen “Eladrin” Muray noted that “no amount of internal testing can catch all of the issues that the wider player base will instantly find,” and Paradox typically fixes problems after receiving community feedback.

Paradox recommends newcomers start with one of the preconfigured empires. The studio points to the United Nations of Earth as an approachable option, saying they “offer many advantages that will help you out while you’re new.”

Prior to the anniversary sale Paradox repackaged the base game to include three previously separate add-ons: Utopia, Synthetic Dawn and the Humanoid Species pack, which raised the base price. Players who do not want to buy individual expansions can use the subscription to access the full DLC catalogue for a limited time.

The free weekend and price cut give new and returning players an opportunity to try the current version of Stellaris and test recent mechanics and balance changes without purchasing the game. Paradox has released paid expansions alongside fundamental updates to the underlying game and has issued patches after player reports when overhauls produced instability.