New Galactic Civilizations 3 Expansion Announced, Watch First Video

Stardock has announced a new expansion for its turn-based strategy game Galactic Civilizations III. Titled Mercenaries, the expansion is focused around the titular mercenaries, which basically function as hero units. The expansion is due to launch on February 18 priced at $20.

The game's new mercenary system stems from a pool of mercenaries, each of which costs a certain amount of currency to obtain. Some grant combat buffs for units in select areas, while others afford economy boosts and increase movement by 50 percent, among other things.

The mercenary pool in Galactic Civilizations III will be shared. What this means is once a unit is hired, it gets pulled out of the pool and is not available for other players. It also means that players will know who other players are hiring--and thus what victory parameters they might be going after.

Galactic Civilization III's Mercenaries expansion also adds two new factions: Torians and Arceans, as well as new abilities and tech trees for every race. On top of that, there is a new campaign in which you'll hire mercenaries to fight alongside the Torians against the Drengin empire, while more than 70 new ships have been added. There are "dozens" of new ship parts available for customization, while Mercenaries also supports Steam Workshop.

For more on Mercenaries, you can check out the gameplay video above. You can also click through the images in the gallery below to get a closer look at the expansion.

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