Distant Worlds: Universe
Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time 4X space strategy game. Experience the full depth and detail of turn-based strategy, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game.
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Distant Worlds 2 on Steam
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Distant Worlds 2 is a vast, pausable real-time 4X space strategy game.
Distant Worlds 2 is a strategy, simulation and 4x game
developed by CodeForce
and published by Slitherine Ltd..
Released on March 10th 2022 is available on Windows, Steam Deck and Steam Machine.
It has received 3,237 reviews of which 2,304 were positive and 933 were negative resulting in a rating of 6.9 out of 10. 😐
The game is currently priced at 48.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 1.66€ on K4G.
The Steam community has classified Distant Worlds 2 into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: Windows 11 (64-bit only) (The game will run on Windows 7, 8, and Windows 10 (64-bit only) but these operating systems are not officially supported)
- Processor: 4+ Physical Core CPU @ 2.5GHz (e.g. Intel: Core i3-8100, Core i5-750, Core i7-920 / AMD: Athlon 64 FX-8100, Athlon II X4, Phenom X4, Phenom II X4, Ryzen 3 1200, Ryzen 5 1400, Ryzen 7 1700)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVidia GTX 760-equivalent or better, 2+Gb VRAM, DirectX 11 compliant
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 20 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX 11 compatible sound card
- Additional Notes: Screen Resolution: 1024x768 minimum but not ideal for best UI experience
Steam Price & Best Deals
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
This is in my opinion is the best 4X single player strategy space game out there, You have to treat as simulation and only take control of the areas you want, The unique thing about this game is that not only is the universe so large but planets contain a wide variety of resource types not just "Metal", "Water" as with other games. Also there is a private economy in you empire this game which you have no control over which shuffle these resources around to were they need to be. The downsides is that it does have a big learning curve and where you start and who your neighbours are can make for a swingy gameplay experience. All in all I regard it as a classic. A
A fantastic 4X Sci-Fi game I do recommend this game. But I do not recommend it to everyone. This is easily the largest 4X game I've ever played. And I'm comparing it to games like Stellaris, Endless Space and Masters of Orion. The amount of things that are simulated are insane. While in many other games resources are abstract values that are shared from a common pool across your whole empire, this is not the case here. Every unit of fuel, steel, carbon, argon, krypton, furs, pearls, etc. is tracked from mining station over trade ship to planet or shipyard. Those transports thankfully get handeld by the civilian economy of your empire, which you do not manage. But keep an eye on it, because those civilian economies are what bring the cashflow. Taxes and the likes. Then there are the ships and fleets. Each ship has multiple componants. Each of those can be destroyed and/or disabled. And you will create dozens of fleets to protect, raid, attack and invade. And you will build hundreds of escorts to guard your trade routs from pirates. And it goes on and on and on like this. As I mentioned, this game is BIG. But it also runs very, very deep. Thankfully most of those mechanics can be automised. But if you love micro-managing you can do everything yourself, or let the automation handle some parts of your empire while you micro other. But if you want to have fun with this game you will have to dive into those mechanics and the learning curve is steep. If you want a super complex 4X Sci-Fi game, this is your pick. If you want something more casual, I'd recommend Stellaris. Oh, and it runs pretty smoothly. Even in the late game there is no big slowdown. But it crashes here and there.
I am a big fan of this series. It has its issues, but nothing that outshines its current playability, enjoyment potential. A word of advice when deciding if this is a game for you....ignore all reviews with under ~25hrs of game play. It is not an overly complex game but it demands getting used to it and digging around and reading up. The game also allows you to play the game style that suits you anywhere between micro-managing just about everything to it being just a simulation you mostly watch...but again you have to spend the time to tweak these settings as you get used to playing...you got to make the effort. As with Distant Worlds 1, the devs improve game play continually with patches and dlc. If you like this type of game, it is well worth the investment to purchase and well worth the time spent to get the most of it, I thoroughly enjoy it. It is one of those games I continue to come back to.
This game has a definition problem. Many reviewers look at it and compare it to other strategy, 4X, or grand strategy games—but that would be incorrect. It’s like reviewing an FPS as if it were a medieval RPG; the comparison will never align. Distant Worlds 2 is trying to be a macro-management game—or a macro strategy game. But “trying” is the key word here. It’s not necessarily failing, but it’s not fully succeeding either. So what is this game trying to achieve? You know that problem where strategy and 4X games are really fun in the early to mid game, and then start to fall off? You end up with 10+ planets or cities to manage, a growing number of fleets or armies, and suddenly the game just isn’t built for its own late game. In my experience, that’s true for almost every strategy title—Stellaris, Civilization VI, Galactic Civilizations, X4: Foundations, and so on. Distant Worlds 2 is trying to solve that problem. Instead of focusing on micromanaging every detail, it gives you a more “administrative” view of your empire. However, it doesn’t do this perfectly. The game’s biggest issue is its lack of full commitment to this vision. It doesn’t fully embrace being a macro-management game. Many systems feel underdeveloped—more like in-between solutions than fully realized mechanics. That said, despite the issues—many of which are common in games this ambitious—it is still a very fun experience, and genuinely unique. I know “unique” is an overused word, so let me be specific: this game really does feel like nothing else. Here, you don’t micromanage your fleets. Instead, you assign them parameters: a base of operations, a target, a range, and an objective. The fleet then carries out tasks—attacking, raiding, invading—on its own. It’s a fantastic idea. The execution isn’t flawless (refuelling logic can be bizarre—fleets sometimes stop just short of a station and wait years for a tanker), but the concept is incredibly engaging. This isn’t a game about manually moving every fleet from system to system. It’s about building the infrastructure—supply lines, ship design, research, and economy—so that when you give an order, your empire actually functions on its own. The result is a truly unique experience. Unfortunately, it’s also very difficult to learn. There are few YouTubers covering the game, and the advice you do find is often contradictory. Some recommend full automation so you can observe and learn; others suggest minimizing automation to understand every system. For new players, I recommend the latter: set most systems to manual or advisor recommendations. The game will guide you just enough to learn without completely taking over. It will be challenging at first, but once you understand what’s happening, it’s not as difficult as it seems. It can be tedious at times—but it’s also deeply rewarding. And you get to automate the really tedious parts that just don't really make sense. This is a dream game for anyone who wants to build a galactic empire without the constant micromanagement of every building or ship. It still has shortcomings, but for fans of space and strategy, it’s absolutely worth picking up. Don’t be misled by negative reviews that completely misunderstand what this game is trying to be. If you are tired of typical strategy late game states and slowness, gives this game a shot, it might be a lot of fun for you too! Edit: I feel some negative aspects of the game should be addressed more specifically, as to give players and devs a better understanding of what I believe to be the weakest points of the game. Independent Colonies While the idea could be good, it is implemented terrible. The colonies are just there for you to take and then use the population to colonize other planets, specifically ones that the conquered species prefers. This is a fundamental mechanic. But I feel like it takes out a lot of the game. Interracial tensions? Policies? You just go and your happy little empire lives together with multiple species without problems? It seems a bit far fatched, and a not well implemented system, in my opinion. Wars Wars have war scores, but for what I have no idea. You can't properly use diplomacy to "win" or form a peace deal, where the loser gives certain colonies, etc. It only works if the colonies you want to take are already in your sphere of influence. The score system isn't useful in any matter, as far as I can tell. Subjugating someone is a joke. I got 93 credits per month from a vassal. And in neutral territory they still attacked me. There is no visible way to integrate them, ask them to go to war, defend them etc. The whole system is really disappointing and needs some huge improvements.
I don't know why people hate this game so much. Maybe it has this bad rating for historic reasons: was it in a much worse state before? Today It's everything I could desire from a 4X game. It's orders of magnitude better that the previous title. Literally in all aspects. There are still some minor kinks with automation. Like being unable to prevent the AI from spamming troop transports that I want to manage manually. And the absence of population templates for planet types. But man oh man how good the Idea of being able to micro-tune each aspect of automation and leave only the interesting parts for yourself. It really works, and works well at that. Could not imagine the game of this scale not having these tools. Would never be possible for a human being to manage all this scale of thousands of start systems. This truly feels like you're in charge of an actual empire. Unlike in other games, where you have no choice but to manage everything. The private sector economy and its separation from the part of empire controlled by you is just an amazing idea. Other games just `simulate` logistics, effectively making it dumb and shallow. Here, you can basically destroy enemy income, hunting down his logistics elements. Yeah, UI has a LOT of space for improvements. But those are minor issues that I believe they will iron out, eventually. And best of all: this is not a scummy paradox game, where they milk you with 100s of DLCs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Distant Worlds 2 is currently priced at 48.99€ on Steam.
No, Distant Worlds 2 is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 48.99€ on Steam.
Yes, Distant Worlds 2 received 2,304 positive votes out of a total of 3,237 achieving a rating of 6.93.
😐
Distant Worlds 2 was developed by CodeForce and published by Slitherine Ltd..
Yes, Distant Worlds 2 is playable and fully supported on Windows.
No, Distant Worlds 2 is not playable on MacOS.
No, Distant Worlds 2 is not playable on Linux.
Yes, Distant Worlds 2 is playable on Steam Deck, though it might require a few minor tweaks. Make sure to check the Steam store page and community feedback on ProtonDB for exact compatibility details.
Yes, Distant Worlds 2 is playable on Steam Machine, though it might require a few minor tweaks. Make sure to check the Steam store page and community feedback on ProtonDB for exact compatibility details.
No, Distant Worlds 2 does not support VR.
Distant Worlds 2 is a single-player game.
Yes, there are 5 DLCs available for Distant Worlds 2. Explore additional content available for Distant Worlds 2 on Steam.
No, Distant Worlds 2 does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
No, Distant Worlds 2 does not support Steam Remote Play.
Yes, Distant Worlds 2 is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Distant Worlds 2.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 11 October 2026 22:55 UTC |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 16 October 2026 12:11 UTC |
| Steam price | 27 October 2026 04:10 UTC |
| Steam reviews | 18 October 2026 07:57 UTC |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Distant Worlds 2, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Distant Worlds 2
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Distant Worlds 2 concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Distant Worlds 2 compatibility
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Game modes
Features
Online players
117
Developer
CodeForce
Publisher
Slitherine Ltd.
Release
10 Mar 2022
Platforms
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