update · March 18, 2025
Stellaris 3.99.2 Phoenix Open Beta Adds Industrial Zone and MegaCorp Focus Tasks
The Stellaris 3.99.2 Phoenix Open Beta update introduces an Industrial Zone for mixed alloys and consumer goods, adds new MegaCorp focus tasks, and overhauls underlying pop group logic. Players can test these changes by opting into the beta branch on Steam.
Paradox Interactive has released the 3.99.2 Phoenix Open Beta for Stellaris, bringing new economic structures, interface improvements, and significant under-the-hood adjustments to how pops and traits are handled.
Economy and Empire Management
A new Industrial Zone handles the production of mixed alloys and consumer goods. The focus task Embrace a Faction is renamed to Promote a Faction, and two new focus tasks let MegaCorps establish branch offices. Special project costs that scale with the number of pops have also been updated.
Interface and Quality of Life
Zones feature dedicated icons, a larger click area, and basic tooltips within the planet UI. Placeholder icons are replaced throughout the build, the colonization UI modifiers section is improved, the resettlement view uses strata instead of jobs, and workforce modifier icons are added.
Events and Mechanics
The Rise of the Manifesti event chain is revamped. New terraforming candidate events use a dedicated message type and appear as notifications. Lithoid resource traits no longer block cybernetic leviathan traits.
Modding and Backend Changes
Pop resource upkeep and production move from species archetypes and traits to the resource tables for archetypes and traits, removing them from pop categories. Scripting adjustments change every_owned_pop to every_owned_pop_group, update robot pop checks to target pop groups, and make ethic changes apply to pop groups rather than individual pops.
Why this patch matters
The 3.99.2 Phoenix Open Beta delivers foundational economic additions and important backend optimizations for Stellaris modders and players, shifting key calculations to pop groups while refining interface clarity.