Paradox Interactive has announced Expansion Pass 2 for Stellaris: Console Edition, bringing three more DLC packs to PS4 and Xbox One owners. These are the Synthetic Dawn Story Pack, Humanoids Species Pack and the Apocalypse Expansion. Check out the trailer below.

Synthetic Dawn introduces the Machine Empire and allows players to have a civilization composed entirely of robots (which is great for production). Humanoids brings in new portraits and ships while Apocalypse lets you build some powerful super-weapons to use against the opposition. Expansion Pass 2 hasn’t been priced yet but it will become available on May 12th.

The Synthetic Dawn Story Pack will release on the same day – release dates for the other DLC have yet to be confirmed but Apocalypse will be next. Of course, those playing on PC can access all of the above DLC and much more. The latest expansion for PC is Federations which introduces Senates and many more diplomacy options.

Among the many announcements at Inside Xbox was that Warhorse Studios’ Kingdom Come: Deliverance would be joining the Xbox Game Pass roster this month. It’s out on August 22nd but that’s not all. Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5 and Age of Empires: Definitive Edition are also available on the service as of yesterday.

Aside from previously announced games like The Bard’s Tale 4: Barrows Deep – Director’s Cut (August 27th) and Blair Witch (August 30th, with a new trailer revealed recently), we also have Stellaris: Console Edition. The space grand strategy title is also available today and will arrive for Game Pass on PC soon. Then there’s Ape Out, the puzzle brawler from Gabe Cuzzillo which sees players rampaging through environments as a giant ape.

If that wasn’t enough, players can expect Motion Twin’s critically acclaimed Dead Cells to release by September 5th for Game Pass. So far, a very solid line-up of titles coming to the service in the next few weeks. This, of course, doesn’t include the release of Gears 5, launching for Xbox Game Pass and worldwide on September 10th for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC.

We've received a lot of questions regarding Devil May Cry 5 in the last few weeks. the answer is yes + Stellaris: Console Edition + Age of Empires: DE pic.twitter.com/3CzeiQg97B

— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) August 19, 2019

Paradox Development Studio’s Stellaris finally brings its complex 4X space machinations to consoles. Boasting huge procedurally generated galaxies and numerous planets for players to discover with a vast space empire to build, Stellaris: Console Edition is out now for Xbox One and PS4. Check out the release trailer below.

To help console players manage all the complexity on consoles, the controls and user interface have been accordingly streamlined. Unfortunately, Stellaris: Console Edition doesn’t really represent the PC version in its current form. The PC version went through some major changes over the past year, especially with update 2.0 and the recently released Megacorp expansion.

Instesd, Stellaris: Console Edition is based off of update 1.7. It’ll probably take a while before console players can have features like better empire management. Still, the current iteration of Stellaris: Console Edition is worth checking out for those who want a good 4X title to sink dozens of hours into.

Paradox Interactive has announced that Stellaris: Console Edition will be out for Xbox One and PS4 on February 26th. The Standard Edition retails for $39.99, while the Deluxe Edition costs $59.99. To help familiarize people with the overall game, a new features trailer has been released. Check it out below.

Along with the base game, the Deluxe Edition features the Plantoids Species Pack and Leviathans Story Pack, along with Utopia expansion. Once the content releases for consoles in the coming months, they’ll be automatically downloaded. Until then, players will have to content themselves with exploring the universe and creating their own empire in the base game.

The real question is about when we can expect Stellaris: Console Edition to catch up with the PC release. The latter has seen the recent launch of Megacorp, which allows players to create a universe-spanning mega-corporation (and even indulge in buying and selling citizens, if they so desired). Stay tuned for more information and details on the console version in the meantime.

To learn more about Stellaris: Console Edition and what exactly it will bring to players, Gamingbolt reached out to the developers with some questions and Game Director Daniel Moregård provided the following answers.

"In general there only seems to be a handful of strategy games available for consoles, so naturally we’re very excited to be able to bring a grand strategy game to the console market for the first time ever."

Would you say that there is a lack of Strategy games such as this one on consoles?

Yes, definitely. In general there only seems to be a handful of strategy games available for consoles, so naturally we’re very excited to be able to bring a grand strategy game to the console market for the first time ever.

If this game performs well on consoles, would you consider bringing some other Paradox titles to consoles as well?

We want to bring our games to as many people as possible, but the game itself always comes first. Not all games can be translated to work well with a gamepad. Something we may do is to make sure newer games keep the gamepad in mind during early development, so that it becomes easier to translate the game to console if we choose to do so in the future.

Are there any major differences between the initial PC version and the Console Edition of the game?

For all intents and purposes, it’s the same game. We’ve focused on how best to adapt Stellaris to being played on console. While there have been some interface changes, the complexity and challenge of Stellaris will remain the same. We aim to make a true grand strategy experience available on consoles.

What are some of the major improvements and changes that have been added to the game since its initial launch on PC?

There have been a lot of large overhauls since the game’s 1.0 version including traditions, species rights, factions and numerous other improvements, not even counting all the DLC features. Stellaris is a game that changes a lot for every new update, so it’s honestly even hard to remember how much it has changed already.

At what resolution and frame rates will the game run on the base PS4 and Xbox One?

The game is not as much about frame rates as it is about CPU cycles. We’ve worked a lot on performance and stability, so we are confident the player experience on a console should mirror that of the PC.

"It is too early to comment on or promise anything beyond what we’ve announced thus far including the Plantoids Species Pack, Leviathans Story Pack, and the Utopia Expansion. Our ambition is to be able to catch up to the PC at some point."

And what about on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

There is no specific support for PS4 Pro and Xbox One X in terms of 4K resolution, but since the consoles feature newer hardware the game will of course be able to make use of that.

Are there any plans to bring the game over to the Nintendo Switch as well?

As noted before, ideally we’d love to be able to bring our games to as many people as possible, but there are no current plans to bring the game over to the Switch.

When will the Apocalypse expansion become available on consoles?

It is too early to comment on or promise anything beyond what we’ve announced thus far including the Plantoids Species Pack, Leviathans Story Pack, and the Utopia Expansion. Our ambition is to be able to catch up to the PC at some point.

What made you decide that this was the right time to bring this game over to consoles?

PDS does not really have the resources to adapt the game to PC ourselves (as it would conflict with further PC development), so it was paramount to find reliable partners to work with. After finding a good partner in Tantalus, we decided to take the leap.

When is the Console Edition set to release?

We have not yet announced the release date.

"The important thing for us is that the player experience should be the same as on the PC."

The game will feature Xbox One X specific enhancements. What can players expect if they are playing the game on Xbox One X? Is 4K/60fps on the cards?

4K is not supported, but since the Xbox One X features newer hardware the game will of course be able to make use of that.

And how will the PS4 Pro version turn out in terms of resolution and frame rate?

Similarly, 4K is not supported.

From a development perspective, how do you find the Xbox One X to be? With so much GPU power, we are sure you must be doing some amazing things.

This game is not so much about GPU as it is about CPU, so that aspect does not really affect Stellaris in that specific way.  That said, we’ve found that Stellaris runs really well on the Xbox One X.

How is the game running on the original Xbox One and PS4, frame rate and resolution wise?

It is running great! The important thing for us is that the player experience should be the same as on the PC.

Next gen is coming sooner or later. From a development perspective, what is your biggest expectation from PS5 and Xbox Scarlett?

Right now we’re focusing on making sure Stellaris: Console Edition is the best we can make it but we look forward to learning more about the next generation. That said, having more CPU power certainly sounds like a very good thing.