Stellaris' new DLC BioGenesis lets you breed an existentially terrifying but cool as hell planet-sized monster, is out now

Stellaris is one of those forever games where occasionally I'll see that it's released something new and think "dang, that old dog is still truckin' along?" It seems to be that time of year again, as both a big update for the game as well as a new expansion dropped yesterday. Paradox previously described this as a "phoenix update" to try and sort out a bunch of the game's long-running issues, as well as make some tweaks to help bring in new players.

Ironically, based on some recent Steam reviews since the update dropped, a lot of people seem to be saying it's kind of done the opposite, at least in terms of making the game run better. I'm sure that'll get fixed eventually, the game's nearly 10 years old, I doubt one dodgy update will sink this spaceship. In terms of the update's big changes, the game now groups singular populations by species, strata, and ethic. These groups then produce Workforce, which then get assigned to jobs on your planets.

Stellaris S09E01: Biogenesis | Gameplay Release Trailer

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DLC wise, there's lots of additions there too. You'll find a couple of new biological shipsets, which kind of look like different species of deep sea squid. There's also a new origin called the Wilderness, a "Hive Mind exclusive origin" that requires you to play with a biological ship set.

Godzilla and giant space creature lovers alike may also be interested in the new player crisis scenario which lets you breed your very own giant monster. Existentially terrifying, but makes for some cool gameplay.

On top of all of that, there's new civics like genetic identification and civil education, a new deep space citadel megastructure, an overhauled genetic ascension, and a lot more. Big DLC! Too much to cover here, but that's ok, it just leaves plenty more for you to discover. Or to just read about in its Steam post.