Stellaris' "cybernetic, synthetic" The Machine Age expansion announced

Paradox Interactive has unveiled The Machine Age, the next major expansion for its space-faring 4X strategy game Stellaris, which will focus on “cybernetic, synthetic, and machine themes” when it launches for PC in the second quarter of 2024.

“Scientists have discovered advanced means to commune with the machine, enabling life to overcome the biological limitations of minds and flesh,” explains Paradox. “The Machine Age begins a time of technical glory, but raises new ethical and social dilemmas. With those times of unleashed ambition, new threats will emerge, questioning the real meaning of life itself.”

And with that bit of scene-setting out the way, Paradox gets onto some of The Machine Age’s new features, which include a new Endgame Crisis, based around the return of an ancient synthetic threat, alongside a new Crisis Path focused on technological ascendancy at any cost.