New Sins of a Solar Empire 2 update transforms diplomacy, the economy, and enemy AI

It's a good time to be a fan of space-based strategy. Stellaris might have faced an early wobble with Shadows of the Shroud, but it's recovering, and Galactic Civilizations 4 just unveiled a two-year, five-part expansion plan. Not to be outdone, a new Sins of a Solar Empire 2 update, Diplomatic Repercussions, is answering some of the biggest requests from players. "We've been implementing a steady stream of improvements during 2025," director of publishing Brian Clair notes, "but we wanted to go out with a bang and deliver an update that would excite the fans."

New Sins of a Solar Empire 2 update Diplomatic Repercussions is packed primarily with player requests. Between Sins, Ashes of the Singularity, and GalCiv, Stardock continues to prove itself a serious challenger to the might of Paradox when it comes to the best space games. Part of that is responding to the community, and so the new 1.5 patch focuses on elements such as diplomacy, improved enemy AI, better match options, menu redesigns, and a full economic rebalance.

Naturally, diplomacy changes are front and center, with Stardock promising "greater flexibility and options to players." In order for that to land, it's also given computer-controlled opponents a big balance pass; they've long been one of the weaker elements of Sins 2, but should now "react more dynamically to changes" and make smarter decisions, particularly as games get into the back half. They'll consider more factors when picking diplomatic partners, and you're able to trade with resources such as influence.

A ground-up economic rework aims "to bring more of the economy into orbit instead of on planets." This isn't a ground-based strategy game, after all. The research and tech trees have been redesigned to strip out visual clutter and group together similar subjects. The speed of unlocks has been adjusted; you should find you won't need to load up with quite so many research stations to climb to the highest-tier tech.

Putting matches together has been made simpler with new game setup options. You're able to customize initial start conditions. Prefer to go from scratch? Pick 'basic' and you'll begin with just a light factory. If you want to get into the action a little faster, bump it up to settings that let you set off with a preset loadout of planets, fleets, and other tools already at your disposal. You'll also spot new orbital traffic moving between population centers; this doesn't have any extra gameplay impact, but it does bring things to life in a clear fashion.

Last but not least, the update overhauls the modding user interface, making it faster while providing more information. While that might not affect the average player directly, it should make mods easier to build, and that's always good news. My first introduction to the series was with the original's Star Trek total conversion mod, Armada 3, so community creations will always have a soft spot in my heart.

The Sins of a Solar Empire 2 'Diplomatic Repercussions' update launches Wednesday December 10. You can play the game right here on Steam, via the Epic Games Store, or through Stardock directly.