Xbox Game Pass staple Stellaris will be giving away approximately $40 worth of content in May 2026 as part of its tenth anniversary celebrations. The newly announced giveaway is set to go live nearly seven years after the popular title was first added to Xbox Game Pass.
With over 8 million sales as of December 2025, Stellaris is one of the most commercially successful 4X grand strategy games ever made. Its reach has long been boosted by Xbox Game Pass, which first added Paradox Interactive’s title in August 2019 and has offered it to subscribers ever since.
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Stellaris to Incorporate 3 Premium DLCs Into Base Game in May 2026
Before Stellaris marks its seventh anniversary on Microsoft’s subscription service, Paradox said it will fold three premium add-ons into the game’s base edition. Announced in a mid-March forum post, the change is planned to go live on May 11, 2026. At a yet unspecified time on that date, Paradox will add Utopia, Synthetic Dawn, and Humanoids Species to the base game. All three of those Stellaris DLC packs were originally launched in 2017, with their combined retail value being just under $40.
The 2017 expansions will be folded into the base game in order to commemorate Stellaris‘s 10th anniversary, which officially falls on May 9. Paradox said the move will also bring most Galaxy Edition extras into the standard version of its hit grand strategy game. The only exception is the Infinite Frontiers e-book, which is set to be retired instead of rolled over into vanilla. Paradox is officially framing the change as a way of folding some of the game’s most iconic expansions into the core package for all players to enjoy. The move could potentially give Stellaris a second wind, at least on PC, the only platform currently confirmed for the initiative.
Stellaris 10th Anniversary Freebies
|
DLC |
Previous Price |
|---|---|
|
Stellaris: Utopia |
$19.99 |
|
Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn Story Pack |
$9.99 |
|
Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack |
$9.99 |
Utopia, Synthetic Dawn, and Humanoid Species will be rolled into the base game beginning May 11, 2026. The change has so far only been confirmed for PC.
The added content is a substantial addition to the base game package, which regularly retails for $39.99. Between them, the three DLC packs unlock a variety of gameplay mechanics and features, including Machine Empires, synthetic race portraits, new Civics, Clone Army Origin, additional ship models, and voiceover set extras, among other novelties.
While the freebies have so far been confirmed only for PC, they are expected to encompass the Xbox Game Pass version of Stellaris, which has been available to Microsoft subscribers since August 2019. The 4X strategy game remained accessible to most subscribers even after the service was restructured into four tiers in September 2024. Since Xbox Game Pass Essential added Stellaris in December 2025, the title has once again become available across every single membership tier.
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As a third-party title, Stellaris is not guaranteed to remain on Xbox Game Pass indefinitely. Even so, with the game now approaching its seventh anniversary on the service, it appears likely to stay in Microsoft’s catalog for at least some time longer. That likelihood is further supported by its relatively recent addition to the Xbox Game Pass Essential library. Since Microsoft introduced that entry-level tier—originally branded as Xbox Game Pass Core before being renamed Essential in October 2025—it has only expanded its lineup without removing any existing titles.
Stellaris Is Getting a Permanent Price Hike Soon
No matter how much longer Stellaris remains on Xbox Game Pass, the addition of Utopia, Humanoids Species Pack, and Synthetic Dawn is set to materially strengthen the game’s overall value proposition. For PC players who were considering buying any of those three add-ons separately as of late, the more sensible option now is likely to wait for them to be absorbed into the base game. The restructuring will not be entirely cost-free, however, as Paradox recently announced a permanent Stellaris price increase, with the base game set to rise from $39.99 to $49.99 in May 2026. As a result, the main beneficiaries of the content restructuring will be players who purchase the game before the price increase takes effect, as well as Xbox Game Pass subscribers.
- Released
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May 9, 2016
- ESRB
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E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Violent References, Mild Language
