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Distant Worlds: Universe

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.

Released May 23, 2014 Developer Code Force Publisher Slitherine Ltd. Platforms Windows Strategy4XSpaceSci-fiSimulation
View on Steam ↗ $2.99 (US · as of 2026-07-26)

What players say

Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.

75.7%positive1,819 reviews
Recommended · 2 found this helpful

“my son likes the tech progression but its very complicated for a 12yr old but he found videos and it was much easier. one of his favs.”

— a player, Steam review · 89 hrs played
Recommended · 0 found this helpful

“I was feeling nastalgic about stars! the other day and I started to do some looking around. This game filled that itch. Lots of depth but you explore it at your own pace. I keep coming back to this one.”

— a player, Steam review · 295 hrs played
Not recommended · 6 found this helpful

“[h1][b] TLDR: UI and font size make the game nearly unplayable. [/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ➕Incredibly deep 4x mechanics ➕Massive universe map [h1]CONS: [/h1] ➖[b]No native way to increase font/UI size - Text is literally almost unreadable at 1440p [/b] ➖Terrible UI ➖Insane…”

— a player, Steam review · 3 hrs played
Read more reviews ↗

Player activity

Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 12:05 UTC · history via SteamCharts.

5playing at last check
1124-hour peak
1,239all-time peak
0 250 500 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 436 avg · May 2014

Achievement stats

Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.

54achievements
5.0%median completion
0.2%rarest: We Want You
40.8% of players 33.7% of players 32.7% of players 32.0% of players 30.4% of players 26.8% of players 25.9% of players 25.6% of players 23.2% of players 22.5% of players 21.1% of players 18.5% of players 18.2% of players 16.8% of players 16.6% of players 16.4% of players 16.2% of players 15.0% of players 13.5% of players 12.5% of players 10.1% of players 9.0% of players 6.3% of players 6.1% of players 6.0% of players 5.4% of players 5.2% of players 5.0% of players 5.0% of players 4.4% of players 3.7% of players 3.4% of players 3.0% of players 2.9% of players 2.9% of players 2.6% of players 2.6% of players 2.0% of players 1.8% of players 1.7% of players 1.5% of players 1.3% of players 1.2% of players 1.2% of players 0.7% of players 0.5% of players 0.4% of players 0.4% of players 0.3% of players 0.2% of players 0.2% of players 0.2% of players 0.2% of players 0.2% of players 40.8% 0% most earned rarest
Almost everyone has
40.8%Peace through Peace — Spend 0% of time at War
33.7%Free Trader — Highest Trade Volume
32.7%Minecrafter — Mine Most Resources
Rarest badges of honor
0.2%We Want You — Join the Freedom Alliance
0.2%I am the Law — Eliminate 20 Pirate Factions
0.2%I am the Law — Eliminate 10 Pirate Factions

Price tracking

US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.

$2.99−90% right nowcurrent · sampled 2026-07-26 08:39 UTC
$29.99base price
$2.99lowest since tracking began2026-07-22
US2.99 USD−90%
EU2.89 EUR−90%
UK2.49 GBP−90%
Australia4.39 AUD−90%
Canada3.89 CAD−90%
Japan340 JPY−90%
Brazil8.89 BRL−90%
China10.80 CNY−90%

Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.

China≈$1.6 Brazil Japan Canada US Australia EU UK≈$3.3

Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.

$0 $25 $50 07-11 07-14 07-17 07-20 07-23 07-26

Latest official news

Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.

Nov 21, 2022
Next? Slitherine

Slitherine Next, the spiritual successor of our Home of Wargamers events, is coming soon. Save the date: December 13th at 4 pm GMT on Twitch It'll be the perfect occasion to learn more about upcoming

May 31, 2022
Distant Worlds 2 - Major Update v. 1.0.4.8

We are glad to announce the new Major Update for Distant Worlds 2, this update will feature many gameplay fixes and improvements to Fleet and Ship Behavior (including Fuel Tankers and Starfighters), t

Jan 27, 2021
Distant Worlds 2 - Revealed

Yesterday Distant Worlds 2 was officially unveiled in an hour-long live stream. The overall reaction from the fans was positive beyond our expectations. We can safely say that the game reveal was a st

Dec 20, 2019
Distant Worlds 2 Sneak Peek #1 – Ship Design

A Teekan Spaceport in orbit around a planet We’ve been working on Distant Worlds 2 for more than four years now and we thought it was time to start giving you a few peeks behind the curtain. There is

Aug 24, 2017
Distant World - Universe Playlist by BluScreen_Jason

Hello everyone! Today we want to show you a cool YouTube playlist, collecting Distant World - Universe gameplays that BluScreen_Jason has been recording for a year or so. Distant Worlds - Universe is

Games like Distant Worlds: Universe

From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.

Stellaris Stellaris 85.9% · 105,301 reviews shares Real Time With Pause, 4x, Grand Strategy, Moddable NEBULOUS: Fleet Command NEBULOUS: Fleet Command 81.2% · 3,365 reviews shares Real Time With Pause, 4x, Grand Strategy, Moddable AI War: Fleet Command AI War: Fleet Command 84.4% · 1,225 reviews shares Real Time With Pause, 4x, Grand Strategy, RTS AI War 2 AI War 2 89.2% · 1,316 reviews shares 4x, Real Time, Grand Strategy, Moddable Empires of the Undergrowth Empires of the Undergrowth 95.3% · 10,912 reviews shares Real Time With Pause, 4x, Grand Strategy, Moddable Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic 89.7% · 9,053 reviews shares Real Time With Pause, 4x, Grand Strategy, Moddable Terra Invicta Terra Invicta 82.8% · 6,719 reviews shares Real Time With Pause, 4x, Grand Strategy, Moddable Cataclismo Cataclismo 89.0% · 2,361 reviews shares Real Time With Pause, 4x, Grand Strategy, Moddable

Screenshots

Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.

Facts & details

From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.

GenresSimulation, Strategy
Player tagsStrategy · 4X · Space · Sci-fi · Simulation · Grand Strategy · Singleplayer · Real-Time · RTS · Real-Time with Pause · Moddable · Sandbox (SteamSpy community voting)
FeaturesSingle-player · Steam Achievements · Family Sharing
LanguagesEnglish
Achievements54
Estimated owners100,000 – 200,000 (SteamSpy)
Official sitehttp://slitherine.com/games/dwu_pc
Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: OS *: Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8, 10 Processor: Pentium 4 @1.5 GHz Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: minimum 1024 x 768 resolution, 32 bit DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 1 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 9 compatible Additional Notes: Requires Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer