Galactic Civilizations III

In October 2013, Stardock announced the third installment in the Galactic Civilizations series was in production. Similarly to its predecessors and their expansions, Galactic Civilizations 3 places the player as the leader of a galactic civilization struggling to achieve dominance over the other races of the universe. A pre-release version was made available through Steam in March 2014, which allowed customers to play the game while it is still in development. It was the first game in the series to feature multiplayer and hex-based game tiles.  The full version of the game was released in May 14, 2015. 

Galactic Civilizations III brings massive improvements to one of the highest-rated strategy series of all time. The 64-bit engine boosts the maximum number of empires on a map from 16 to 100, with a similarly dramatic explosion in possible galaxy size. The ship designer gives players total control over how they function as well as how they look. Any ship you’ve ever imagined can be created or downloaded. Each race has its own technology tree, which unlock unique powers like self-healing star ship hulls and super-powered terra forming.

All-new to the series is the concept of "Stellar Topography"; new stellar phenomena such as nebulae and black holes are expected to fill tiles that would have otherwise been empty space in previous games. How extensive and sprawling across the map they are, as well as what impact they have on the game, remains to be seen.

New resources, such as antimatter, are to be used to "Build and maintain the game's deadliest ships".

Starbases and their associated constructor ships have received an overhaul from Galactic Civilizations 2; Starbases now start as a generic space station, and specialize later to focus either on military support, economics or influence, as well as other unannouced functions. Ships and fleets may now "Dock" at starbases, which has been compared to ships orbiting a planet as seen in Galactic Civilizations 2. Meanwhile, constructors are now permitted to have multiple construction modules equipped, enabling them to build several starbases or upgrade them more quickly.

Weapons (and defenses) now have multiple different "sub-types" in addition to their current "Beam/shield - Missile/PD - Mass Driver/Armour" paradigm. Such sub-types include "Long-Range" and "High Efficiency" weapons, and "High Density" Defenses. Precisely what this entails is unknown.

There will be eight major races in the base game, down from twelve; The Terran Alliance, Drengin Empire, Krynn Consortium, Altarian Resistance, Iridium Corporation, Iconian Refuge, Yor Singularity and Thalan Contingency. They are expected to play asymmetrically, similarly to the races from Twilight of the Arnor but to a greater extent. The "missing" races such as the Torians and Arceans may appear in future DLC or as minor races, however it can be assumed the Drath and Korx will not make a return owing to their fate in the previous storyline.

Finally, online multiplayer is a franchise first. Challenge your friends, or team up to see if your allied civilizations can dominate a hostile galaxy.

To purchase Galactic Civilizations III, head over to https://www.galciv3.com/store.

Expansions

Galactic Civilizations III - Mercenaries Expansion
Galactic Civilizations III - Crusade Expansion

DLC

Galactic Civilizations III - Map Pack
Galactic Civilizations III - Mega Events
Galactic Civilizations III - Revenge of the Snathi
Galactic Civilizations III - Precursor Worlds 
Galactic Civilizations III - Builder's Kit
Galactic Civilizations III - Rise of the Terrans
Galactic Civilizations III - Lost Treasures
Galactic Civilizations III - Altarian Prophecy