Developer diaries

Version

This article is timeless and should be accurate for any version of the game.

Version history

MegaCorp

2.2.4 • 2.2.5 • 2.2.6 • 2.2.7

2.2 • 2.2.1 • 2.2.2 • 2.2.3

Distant Stars

2.1 • 2.1.1 • 2.1.2 • 2.1.3

Apocalypse

2.0 • 2.0.1 • 2.0.2 • 2.0.4 • 2.0.5

Synthetic Dawn

1.9 • 1.9.1

1.8 • 1.8.2 • 1.8.3

Utopia

1.6 • 1.6.1 • 1.6.2

1.5 • 1.5.1

Leviathans

1.4 • 1.4.1

1.3 • 1.3.1 • 1.3.2

Base version

1.2 • 1.2.1 • 1.2.2 • 1.2.3 • 1.2.4 • 1.2.5

1.1

1.0 • 1.0.1 • 1.0.2 • 1.0.3

Developer diaries are articles, sometimes accompanied by videos, published by Paradox to describe the game design in detail.

MegaCorp

All developer diaries about the MegaCorp expansion and patch 2.2 (aka Le Guin).

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	New Economy System	A new economic back-end implemented for 2.2 -- the birth of economic templates and economic units.	2018-08-09
2	Planetary Rework (part 1 of 4)	Planetary reworks, involving changes to deposits and buildings and the addition of districts.	2018-08-16
3	Planetary Rework (part 2 of 4)	Planetary reworks, involving changes to jobs, strata and unemployment, housing, growth and migration.	2018-08-23
4	Planetary Rework (part 3 of 4)	Planetary reworks, involving changes to Stability, Happiness and Crime.	2018-08-30
5	Planetary Rework (part 4 of 4)	Planetary reworks, relating to gestalt consciousnesses and habitats.	2018-09-06
6	The Galactic Market	Addition of a galactic market, internal markets, and changes to trader enclaves	2018-09-13
7	Sectors and Factions	Sector Rework and Faction Happiness Rework	2018-09-20
8	Trade Value and Trade Routes	Introduction of trade value, trade routes and the associated piracy rework	2018-09-27
9	Decisions and Planetary Bombardment	Rework of planetary edicts into decisions and changes to planetary bombardments	2018-10-04
10	Tradition Updates	Updated traditions for the new mechanics and tradition type	2018-10-11
11	New and Changed Technologies in Le Guin	Updated economic & planetary building technologies	2018-10-18
12	MegaCorporations	Titular feature of MegaCorp: MegaCorporations	2018-10-25
13	Ecumenopolis and Megastructures	New megastructures and constructable planet types in MegaCorp	2018-11-01
14	The Caravaneers	Travelling caraveneers & deals in MegaCorp	2018-11-08
15	Slave Market, and more!	Slave market, Unity Ambitions & Mandates	2018-11-15
16	Script changes and modding in 2.2	Script changes & modding	2018-11-22
17	2.2 'Le Guin' patch notes	An early peek at the 2.2 'Le Guin' patch notes	2018-11-29
18	Updates, holidays, and the future	Changes in leadership, holidays, and beta patch.	2018-12-20
19	We're back	Back from holidays, bugs, and patches.	2019-01-09
20	Dnote's Inferno	The where and how -- the ins-and-outs of the product management team by Bevan aka "Dnote".	2019-01-17
21	2.2.x post-launch patch	A highlight of some of the bigger things that may change in the definitive 2.2.x post-launch support period	2019-01-24
22	2.2.x post-launch patch v2	Updates about the final 2.2.x post-launch patch, minor changes to modifiers and interface	2019-02-14
23	Exploring the Future	Update on patch 2.2.6 and a discussion on the future direction of the game and tentative features to be added	2019-02-28
24	Sectors	The future of the sector system	2019-03-28
25	Stellaris Dev Diary #144	Megastructures, Habitats and Minor Artifacts	2019-04-18

Distant Stars

All developer diaries about the Distant Stars story pack and patch 2.1 (aka Niven).

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	Anomaly Rework & Expanded Exploration	Anomaly research changes, hyperlane clusters, and new types of star-systems.	2018-04-19
2	The L-Cluster	Heavily modified mysterious gateways leading to an unknown cluster of stars located outside the galaxy	2018-04-26
3	New Anomalies, Systems and Leviathans	New event chains to follow on the galactic grand road	2018-05-03
4	Space Creatures, Strategic Resources and Experimental Subspace Navigation	Changes to Space Creatures encounters, Strategic Resource discovery and exploitation, and addition of Experimental Subspace Navigation	2018-05-10
5	2.1 Anomaly Modding	A glimpse of some of the under-the-hood-changes coming for modders	2018-05-17
6	Niven Post-Launch Support	Extended period of post-launch support with a rolling beta patch	2018-05-24
7	Niven Post-Launch Support (part 2)	Improving performance and increasing L-cluster variety	2018-05-31
8	Niven Post-Launch Support (part 3)	Further performance improvement, renaming factions, and extra-pretty screenshots mode.	2018-06-07
9	Niven Post-Launch Support (part 4)	The second rolling beta to start soon with improvements to be tested over the summer	2018-06-21

Apocalypse

All developer diaries about the Apocalypse expansion and patch 2.0 (aka Cherryh).

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	Starbases	Major mechanics rework to affect: border growth, space stations & planetary spaceports, ship construction and more.	2017-10-26
2	FTL Rework and Galactic Terrain	Consolidating FTL, expanding on them, and using them to "build" a galactic terrain.	2017-11-02
3	War, Peace and Claims	Warfare overhaul: casus belli, wargoals, war exhaustion, starbase/system occupation, and peace negotiations.	2017-11-09
4	Ascension Perks & Surveying in Cherryh	Adding basic version of ascension perks to the base game. Replacing the existing surveying and star chart system.	2017-11-16
5	Doomstacks and Ship Design	Breaking down the doomstack issue into its component problems, and some upcoming changes to the ship designer.	2017-11-30
6	Tech Progression in Cherryh	Changes to technology progression in the 2.0 "Cherryh" update	2017-12-07
7	Fleet Manager	Adding of a new Fleet Manager interface	2017-12-14
8	Ground Combat & Army Rework	Ground Combat & Army Rework	2017-12-21
9	Titans and Planet Destroyers	An announcement of the Apocalypse expansion and reveal of the first features in it	2018-01-11
10	Marauders, Pirates and the Horde	Pirate rework in Cherryh and a Horde mid-game crisis in Apocalypse	2018-01-18
11	Edicts, Campaigns and Unity Ambitions	Expanding on edicts - the addition of campaigns and unity ambitions.	2018-01-25
12	Civic/Ascension Perks Changes and Additions	Expanding on changes to Ascension Perks and Civics.	2018-02-01
13	Cherryh Feature Roundup	Quality of Life features and other minor changes in the coming 2.0 'Cherryh' update.	2018-02-08
14	2.0 "Cherryh" patch notes	Ramping up for release: patch notes, achievements and new music.	2018-02-15
15	2.0.2 patch notes and the Road Ahead for Cherryh	A rolling 2.0.2 beta and larger than normal amount of dev time for post-apocalypse support.	2018-03-01
16	The Post-Apocalypse	Revisiting the list of long-term goals for Stellaris	2018-03-08
17	2.0 Post-Release Support (part 1)	Player feedback and changes coming to War Exhaustion and forced Status Quo.	2018-03-15
18	2.0 Post-Release Support (part 2)	Still in full post-release support with more details on the coming 2.0.2 patch.	2018-03-22
19	Creation and Beyond	Audio Director Björn Iversen says goodbye	2018-04-05

Synthetic Dawn

All developer diaries about the Synthetic Dawn story pack, patch 1.8 (aka Čapek) and patch 1.9 (aka Boulle).

Patch 1.8 (Čapek)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	Crises & The Contingency	Improvements done on the crises front with a major revision of the AI uprising crisis	2017-06-01
2	The Čapek Update	Changes and improvements to Habitability and Terraforming coming in 1.8	2017-06-15
3	Genemodding Templates	Changes coming to genetic modification in the 1.8 Čapek update	2017-06-22
4	Fallen Machine Empire	Tweaks to fallen empires in 1.8 along with a new synthetic-type fallen empire in the upcoming story pack	2017-06-29
5	Hive Mind & Tradition Improvements	Added flavor improvements for Hive-Minds/Devouring Swarms along with traditions flavor changes	2017-07-06
6	Ethics Voice Packs	New voice-over sets for VIR the trusted in-game friendly advisor	2017-07-13
7	Robomodding & Robot Changes	Unique robotic traits, robot template modding and related assortment of robo-changes in the works	2017-07-20
8	Ship Component & Balance Changes	Changes to ship design and combat behavior rework	2017-07-27
9	Machine Empires	Synthetic Dawn Story Pack & new kinds of robotic empires	2017-08-03
10	Machine Uprisings	Machine Uprisings feature in the Synthetic Dawn story pack	2017-08-10
11	Synthetic Dawn Music	Andreas Waldetoft, the in-house composer, on the new tracks for synths included in the upcoming story pack	2017-08-17
12	Čapek Feature Roundup (part 1)	A round-up of some minor changes and reworks coming in the 1.8 Čapek update	2017-08-24
13	Čapek Feature Roundup (part 2)	A continuation of the feature round-up in the 1.8 Čapek update	2017-08-31
14	Decadence and Ascension Changes	Awakened empires will now become decadent with time/power and requested changes to ascension paths	2017-09-07
15	Čapek/Synthetic Dawn Patch Notes	Changelog for the 1.8 "Čapek" update	2017-09-14
16	1.8 Post-Release Support	Update of the beta branch status and current patch notes of patch 1.8.2	2017-10-05
17	1.8 Post-Release Support (part 2)	Wrapping up of 1.8 soon and moving on to 1.9	2017-10-12
18	Official Sound Track	The Stellaris soundtrack DLC is changed to include all previously released tracks as well as all future track releases	2017-10-19

Patch 1.9 (Boulle)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
19	Humanoids Species Pack	A new species pack straight from the artists with additional VIR content.	2017-11-22
20	Tech Progression in Cherryh	The release of the Humanoids Species Pack and patch 1.9.	2017-12-07

Utopia

All developer diaries about the Utopia expansion, patch 1.5 (aka Banks) and patch 1.6 (aka Adams).

Patch 1.5 (Banks)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	Ethics Rework	Reworked empire and pop ethics, as well as a new outlook on factions	2016-12-08
2	Unity and Traditions	Banks 1.5 will introduce new mechanics	2016-12-15
3	Ascension Perks	The new Ascension mechanic and its following 'species endgame' paths coming in Banks	2017-01-12
4	Species Rights	Changes to pops: species rights/obligations, new degrees of slavery and purging, refugees, core worlds and more.	2017-01-19
5	Habitats	Your new home above your home	2017-01-26
6	Megastructures	Megastructures: the headline feature of the Utopia expansion.	2017-02-02
7	Psionics and The Shroud	Psionic Ascension Path	2017-02-09
8	Indoctrination, Unrest and Faction Interactions	Wiz goes into details on indoctrinating pre-FTL species, new unrest system for factions and ways to interact with them	2017-02-16
9	Government, Civics and Hive Minds	Banks focus on internal politics warrants a government rework	2017-02-23
10	Synthetic and Biological Ascension	A closer look at ascension paths	2017-03-02
11	Minor Features and Tweaks	Empire-wide Food, Terraforming Candidate anomaly, War Demand cost reducing, UI improvements	2017-03-09
12	The Music of Utopia	Andreas Waldetoft composed some new music	2017-03-16
13	Graphics & Interface in Banks	Changes to the map in Banks	2017-03-23
14	Update 1.5 Banks Patch Notes	Full Patch Notes	2017-03-30

Patch 1.6 (Adams)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
15	Introductions and Farewells	Rikard Åslund (Zoft), master of dad-jokes, passes the project lead torch to newcomer Jamie Wood (Jamor)	2017-04-13
16	Beyond Utopia	Revisiting the old priorities list and the future beyond Utopia	2017-04-20
17	The Adams Update (part 1)	Ruined megastructures, split taxes sectors, sector stockpiles and new art assets in 1.6 Adams	2017-04-27
18	The Adams Update (part 2)	Devouring Swarm civic for Hive Minds, terraforming enhancements, and full patch notes.	2017-05-04

Leviathans

All developer diaries about the Leviathans story pack, patch 1.3 (aka Heinlein) and patch 1.4 (aka Kennedy).

Patch 1.3 (Heinlein)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	Back in Action	Focusing on addressing community feedback in Heinlein	2016-08-01
2	Heinlein Patch (part 1)	Auto-explore, rally points, expansion planner, strategic resource rework	2016-08-08
3	Heinlein Patch (part 2)	Ship roles and weapon re-balance	2016-08-15
4	Heinlein Patch (part 3)	Changes to planet habitability and federations/alliances, sector improvements and more galaxy setup options	2016-08-22
5	The Fallen	Changes to Fallen Empires in Heinlein, and also "The War in Heaven" events	2016-08-29
6	Space Creature Rework	Grounding space creatures to a regional 'nexus' and expansion of space piracy	2016-09-06
7	Ship Balance	More details on ship roles and weapon re-balance	2016-09-12
8	Enclaves	Enclaves coming in Stellaris: Leviathans	2016-09-19
9	The Guardians	The Guardians are the headline feature of Stellaris: Leviathans	2016-09-29
10	Roar! And Boom!	A look at the sound and music of Leviathans	2016-10-06
11	Graphics & Portraits	New graphics and portraits coming in Heinlein and Leviathans	2016-10-13

Patch 1.4 (Kennedy)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
12	The Journey Ahead	Current status and general plan for the future	2016-10-27
13	Extradimensionals and Precursors	Kennedy update news - precursors and extradimensionals	2016-11-03
14	New Achievements	Kennedy hails with 32 new achievements	2016-11-10

Post-release patches

All developer diaries about the post-release patches, patch 1.1 (aka Clarke) and patch 1.2 (aka Asimov).

Patch 1.1 (Clarke)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	The Maiden Voyage	Paradox' plans for the next three Stellaris patches	2016-05-16
2	Clarke Patch	UI, AI and empire builder improvements, balance changes, bug fixes	2016-05-24
3	QA in Space	A little light on QA work	2016-05-30

Patch 1.2 (Asimov)

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
4	Asimov Patch (part 1)	Diplomacy improvements, border access and embassies	2016-06-14
5	Asimov Patch (part 2)	Better looking battles, map modes, nomad fleets, slave factions, new wargoals, diplomatic incidents	2016-06-20
6	New Skyboxes	Variation added to the universe with the introduction of new Skyboxes	2016-06-27

Base game

All developer diaries about Stellaris (base game).

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	The Vision	Design goals	2015-09-21
2	Art Vision	Artistic choices	2015-09-28
3	Galaxy Generation	How galaxies are generated	2015-10-05
4	Means of Travel	About FTL propulsion	2015-10-12
5	Empires and Species	What sets species apart	2015-10-19
6	Rulers and Leaders	Role that characters play	2015-10-26
7	Science Ships, Surveys and Anomalies	Science ships and events	2015-11-02
8	The Situation Log and Special Projects	Event journal	2015-11-09
9	Planets & Resources	Planetary differences, resource collection methods	2015-11-16
10	The Spaceport and rare resources	Spaceport upgrades and rare resource use	2015-11-23
11	Research & Technology	The hidden, semi-random tech tree	2015-11-30
12	Policies & Edicts	Empire-wide policies, temporary edicts	2015-12-07
13	Primitive Civilizations	Study, enlighten, or infiltrate the natives	2015-12-14
14	Uplifting and Subspecies	Uplift and tailor pre-sentients, alter your own people	2015-12-21
15	Fallen Empires	Powerful, isolationist AI empires	2016-01-04
16	Colony Events	Events to set your planets apart	2016-01-11
17	Ship Designer	Choose a design's sections, and fill their weapon and utility slots	2016-01-18
18	Fleet Combat	Weapon/defense types, hands-off combat, and emergency FTL	2016-01-25
19	Diplomacy & Trade	Trade negotiations and subject types	2016-02-01
20	War and peace	War goals and war score	2016-02-08
21	Administrative Sectors	Few directly managed planets, AI-managed sectors	2016-02-15
22	Alliances and Federations	Multilateral alliances and closely cooperating federations	2016-02-22
23	Multiplayer	32-player multiplayer and enhanced stability	2016-02-29
24	AI	Unique personalities, threat assessments, AI budgeting	2016-03-07
25	Reverse Engineering and Unique Technologies	Studying debris	2016-03-14
26	Migration, Slavery & Purges	Policies concerning Migration, Slavery and Purges	2016-03-21
27	Music & Sound	The soundtrack and sound design of Stellaris	2016-03-28
28	Project Lead speaks	The project lead of Stellaris, Rikard "Zoft" Åslund speaks	2016-04-04
29	Pop Factions & Elections	About populations (pops), factions and elections	2016-04-11
30	Late Game Crises	About late game crises	2016-04-18
31	Modding (Scripting Anomalies)	About modding in general, and scripting anomalies in particular	2016-04-25
32	Modding (Art)	About modding art, with a focus on characters and ship modding	2016-05-02

Videos

Developer video diaries and developer's let's play sessions on the various expansions.

Videos

No.	Title and Link	Description	Date
1	Tour of the Galaxy	Stellaris pre-order trailer recounting the game's features	2016-04-14
2	Leviathans - 1.3 Heinlein patch	Anders "cKnoor" Carlsson drags Daniel "Grekulf" Moregård and Aziz Faghihinejad to go over the 1.3 (Heinlein) patch	2016-09-29
3	Leviathans - Feature Spotlight	Martin "Wiz" Anward, Stellaris' game director, explains the new additions coming to the game in Leviathans	2016-10-17
4	EGX Rezzed - Utopia build ideas	Daniel "Grekulf" Moregård shows some of his favorite builds to use Utopia	2017-03-30
5	EGX Rezzed - Alexis Kennedy	Anders "cKnoor" Carlsson sits down with Alexis Kennedy to talk about his work on Horizon Signal for Stellaris	2017-04-01
6	Utopia - Feature Spotlight	Martin "Wiz" Anward goes over the features in the coming Stellaris expansion Utopia	2017-04-03
7	Utopia - 1.6 Adams patch	Wiz and cKnoor on the balance/bug-fix patch in the pipelines for Stellaris	2017-04-20
8	Tutorial - Colonization	Martin "Wiz" Anward takes the place of your loyal advisor to instruct you on the process of colonization	2017-04-21
9	Design Corner #01	Martin Anward and & Daniel Moregård, Stellaris' game director and game designer, go through some of the design challenges with Stellaris and ideas of what might happen next: FTL, borders, combat, crises and more.	2017-04-27
10	Gamescom 2017 - Stellaris Q&A	Daniel "Grekulf" Moregård and Susie respond to users inquires in Gamescom 2017	2017-08-23
11	Synthetic Dawn - Feature Spotlight	Martin "Wiz" Anward breaks down the feature list of the upcoming "Synthetic Dawn" story pack	2017-09-06
12	Design Corner #02	Martin Anward and Daniel Moregård, Stellaris' game director and game designer, expand on the latest border and FTL rework as well as detailing what possibilities open up through them.	2017-11-02
13	Apocalypse - First Look	Wiz and Blondie, with a first look at Stellaris' 2nd expansion Apocalypse.	2018-01-11
14	Apocalypse - Q&A	A Q&A on Apocalypse and the 2.0 Cherryh patch with Wiz and Blondie.	2018-01-29
15	Apocalypse - Feature Spotlight	Daniel "Grekulf" Moregård details the focus points of the coming Stellaris expansion Apocalypse	2018-02-15
16	Distant Stars - First Look	Wiz and Blondie, with a sneak peak at Stellaris' 3rd story pack Distant Stars.	2018-04-23
17	Distant Stars - Feature Spotlight	Daniel "Grekulf" Moregård with a break-down of the Distant Stars story pack features	2018-05-19
18	PDXCon 2018 - After the Apocalypse	Martin "Wiz" Anward talks about the future of Stellaris at PDXCON 2018	2018-05-20
19	Design Corner #03	Martin Anward and Daniel Moregård, Stellaris' game director and game designer, with details and a Q&A section about planetary rework planned coming in patch 2.2 (aka "Le Guin")	2018-09-06
20	MegaCorp - First Look	Wiz and Blondie, Unveiling Stellaris' 3rd expansion, which focuses on economy, MegaCorp.	2018-10-24

Let's Plays

No.	Title and Link	Description	Start date	End date
1	All hail Blorg, Space Friends	Pre-release LP's of Stellaris by Martin "Wiz" Anward and Anders "cKnoor" Carlsson	2016-03-17	2016-05-26
2	Blorg Cinematic Universe	Multiplayer event of Stellaris in London where devs and youtubers fight for dominance	2016-05-03	2016-05-04
3	Community Galaxy	A new galaxy populated with community created species	2016-06-09	2016-08-04
4	Community Galaxy - The Rad	A galaxy populated with community created species (and plantoids)	2016-08-11	2016-09-22
5	Cute Co-Op	A new galaxy showcasing patch 1.3 (Heinlein) and the Leviathans story pack	2016-10-06	2016-12-08
6	Starcrossed Starfish	Two sub-species, evil and good, vying for supremacy in an extra hot code preview of patch 1.4/Utopia	2017-02-02	2017-03-23
7	Devouring Flock	Martin teaches Susie (new Stellaris community manager) how to play Stellaris while simultaneously checking out the Devouring Swarm Hivemind!	2017-06-15	2017-08-10
8	RoBLORG	Martin and Susie show off the upcoming Synthetic Dawn story pack by playing as a machine empire!	2017-08-03	2017-09-14
9	Artificial Alliance	Organics have been inefficient for too long. It's time to integrate them.	2017-09-28	2017-11-09
10	Stellaris for Beginners	Let's learn how to play Stellaris!	2017-10-12	2017-12-14
11	Orcs vs. Dwarves	Let's deepdive into Stellaris: Apocalypse with an age-old strife.	2018-01-18	2018-03-01
12	Distant Stars	In this new discovery-themed pack, players will uncover new anomalies and storylines, and encounter strange new beings in the uncharted depths of space.	2018-04-27	2018-06-21

Stellaris

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