Sins of a Solar Empire 2 Publisher Explains Epic Games Store Stealth Launch: 'Only One Shot' at a Steam Release

Sins of a Solar Empire 2, the anticipated strategy sequel by Ironclad Games that is being published by Stardock, is finally releasing on Steam this summer. But unbeknownst to many fans, it effectively stealth launched on the Epic Game Store more than a year ago — a release that publisher Stardock has mostly declined to publicize until now.

Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is the sequel to the cult-favorite PC strategy game released in 2008. Like the original, it will combine elements of real-time strategy with 4X empire-building, but practically speaking it's an excuse to see a lot of cool spaceship battles. The new game will add support for multiple cores — yes, the original is that old — while refining numerous elements of the game, such as orbiting planets.

The sequel was quietly released into early access in late 2022, leaving some fans confused over the nature of Stardock's relationship with Epic and leading to speculation over whether an exclusivity arrangement was in place. Asked for clarification, Epic declined to comment on terms with developers and publishers.

Several months after its initial release, Stardock removed the early access flag but otherwise remained silent. It wasn't until Wednesday's announcement that Sins of a Solar Empire 2 went public with a major announcement to fans and the press.

In a statement sent to IGN, CEO Brad Wardell explained why Stardock held back its marketing push until now. "We view Sins 2 as an ongoing service that continues to evolve over time, which you can see with our regular update cadence over the past 18 months since the game first appeared on Epic Games Store," Wardell said.

"Epic has been and continues to be a great partner, but we know that many of our fans are dedicated to Steam for their libraries and we know we only get one shot at a Steam release, so we decided to wait on doing any marketing push until we were ready for that. We’ve been working on a massive update for the past several months to coincide with the Steam release, and this will also be made available to our Epic fans for free."

Sins of a Solar Empire 2 hopes to match the content of the original

Elsewhere, Wardell talked about Sins of a Solar Empire 2's evolution since its late 2022 release, telling PC Gamer that its goal was to release Sins of a Solar Empire 2 1.0 with "the same or more content as the original release of Sins of a Solar Empire 1.0."

"Once we hit that milestone in early 2023, we turned off the early access flag and began working on what amounts to Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion feature/content parity which we will reach this summer and is the version being released onto Steam and as part of a massive free update for Epic users," he said.

"We are aware that most people who have played Sins of a Solar Empire think of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion as the definitive version which is why we have waited until we had reached that level of content to begin our larger public awareness campaign."

While Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is technically out of early access, it's far from feature complete. Among other things, Stardock is still planning to add the Advent Unity race, which will become available alongside the Steam release. As previously mentioned, the new content will be made available free to users who already own Sins of a Solar Empire 2 on Epic Games Store.

"With new ways to play, new tactical options, and new strategic elements, the time is right to bring Sins of a Solar Empire II to a new audience on Steam,” said Stardock publishing director Brian Clair in a release. “We’ve spent the past year bringing free monthly content updates to the game on the Epic Games Store, where it’s been positively reviewed by fans, and look forward to sharing all that work with Steam players while continuing to bring even more new content to the game.”

Sins of a Solar Empire 2's Steam release date is currently listed as Q3 2024. For more, check out our list of the best PC games to play right now.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.