Stellaris: Nomads Expansion Launches for PC as Part of Season 10

The galaxy is changing, and for Stellaris players, that change is now mobile. Stellaris: Nomads, the first installment of the game's Season 10 content, is available now on PC. Whether you pick it up as a standalone expansion or part of the broader season pass, the update introduces a fundamental shift in how empires can interact with the void.

A New Way to Colonize and Conquer

The core of Nomads is the introduction of empires that don't rely on traditional planetary colonization. Instead, players utilize Arkships—massive, upgradeable habitats that serve as the civilization's capital and fortress. Depending on your government’s goals, these ships can be specialized into three classes:

• Military Class: A flagship designed for power projection.
• Scientific Class: A mobile hub for research and discovery.
• Civilian Class: An industrial powerhouse focused on resource extraction.

To support this lifestyle, players can construct Waystations to create a Wayline Network. These trade routes harvest resources as you pass through them, effectively turning your mobile empire into the central trade hub of the galaxy. The expansion also adds a Contract System, allowing nomadic players to perform tasks for settled empires in exchange for influence and resources.

Origins, Civics, and New Tech

The expansion adds several distinct ways to start your journey, including the Voidfarers origin, the spiritual Sacred Path, and the Forever Cruise, which forces you to balance the demands of a pampered elite against an overworked crew. For those looking for a challenge, Heirs of the Khan lets you play as a successor to a murdered leader, forcing you to use bribery and trickery to survive until you can reclaim your throne.

Beyond the starting points, players can take advantage of the Defender of the Galaxy ambition to combat galactic threats, or build the Stellar Cannon. This new megastructure allows you to weaponize your entire energy stockpile, firing a beam capable of striking enemy systems from across the galaxy. You can also engage with the Champion’s Forge, a nomadic enclave that hosts gladiatorial fleet combat.

Modding and Technical Notes

With the release of the update, players may notice their mod playlists appear deactivated. The developers have introduced this as a feature in the launcher to prevent crashes caused by un-updated mods. Players can select their desired playlist from the dropdown menu to restore them, or roll back to version 4.3.7 via the Betas tab in the Steam properties menu if their preferred mods have not yet been updated. A variety of community-created mods, such as More Events Mod and Full Tiny Outliner, are already confirmed as compatible with the 4.4 update.