Stellaris
- Developer
- Paradox Development Studio
- Publisher
- Paradox Interactive
- Released
- 09 May 2016
- Age rating
- PEGI 7
- UK price
- £41.99
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Linux, PC, macOS, Xbox One
Genres: real time strategy rts , simulator , strategy
Explore a galaxy full of wonders in this sci-fi grand strategy game from Paradox Development Studios. Interact with diverse alien races, discover strange new worlds with unexpected events and expand the reach of your empire. Each new adventure holds almost limitless possibilities.
Best gaming PC for Stellaris in 2026
Full buyers guide →Below are the four PC tiers we'd actually recommend for Stellaris today. These are our 2026 hardware picks, not the dated publisher minimums you'll find on Steam.
Budget
£7991080p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Storage
- 1TB NVMe SSD
Mid-tier
£1,2991440p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
High-end
£1,7991440p · 144fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
Enthusiast
£3,4994K · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
- RAM
- 64 GB
- Storage
- 4TB NVMe SSD
Official system requirements
These are the minimum and recommended specs as published by Paradox Interactive on Steam. They tend to be conservative — usually "what ran the game at 1080p when it shipped". For what you should actually buy in 2026, see the tier cards above.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit | Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit |
| CPU | Intel® iCore™ i3-530 or AMD® FX-6350 | Intel® iCore™ i5-3570K or AMD® Ryzen™ 5 2400G |
| RAM | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| GPU | Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 460 or AMD® ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 (1GB VRAM), or AMD® Radeon™ RX Vega 11 or Intel® HD Graphics 4600 | Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 560 Ti (1GB VRAM) or AMD® Radeon™ R7 370 (2 GB VRAM) |
| Storage | 10 GB | 10 GB |
| DirectX | 9.0 | 12 |
Verified 18 May 2026 against the Steam store page.
Can your PC run Stellaris?
If your CPU is roughly equivalent to Intel® iCore™ i5-3570K and your GPU is at or above Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 560 Ti (1GB VRAM), you'll hit recommended settings at 1080p/60. For 1440p or higher, see the tier picks above.