Stellaris: "Grand Strategy" Game Announced, First Trailer

If "never judge a videogame by its trailer" isn't an aphorism already, it should be. But we can't help getting a little bit excited about the prospect of Stellaris, a new strategy game from Paradox - the studio behind such beard-stroking tactical games as Europa Universalisand Crusader Kings. 

Announced at Gamescom 2015, Sellaris is described as "grand strategy on a universal stage." The reveal trailer below points to its mind-expanding scope, its hazy space visuals recalling the eerie vistas of Prometheus and the electronic music sounding a bit like M83's score for the 2013 film Oblivion.

Here's that first trailer:

There's more to Stellaris than just style, though. The game will take place among huge, procedurally-generated star systems, where you'll encounter "an incredible number of random species" - all of whom can become your allies or your opponents, depending on how diplomatic or warlike you're feeling. You'll be able to build our own ships and gradually carve out your own chunk of the cosmos, with the only limit being (presumably) your talent for resource management and seeing off would-be opponents.

Stellariswill mix "modern real-time exploration with classical strategy," and allow you to develop your civilization along three paths - physics, engineering, and society. It's early days for the game yet - it's at the alpha stage of its life cycle - but we're already intrigued by what we've seen so far.