As we roll into a new phase of Early Access, we’re releasing a new victory condition: Economic. This is easily the most complex victory condition in the game, so we wanted to make sure to provide an explanation to how you achieve it. That said, it’s also a fun new way to approach the game for players that enjoy building large, sprawling empires (not just wide, tall is probably more important here) and aren’t as interested in combat or diplomacy. The new minor civilizations feature works quite nicely when taking this path, as some of them will periodically gift research and credits, and once ally, will contribute their GDP (more on that below) to yours. When you first hear “economic” you might think that piles of BC are the key to success. While they do help, that is not the only thing you will need to focus on to accomplish economic dominance. There are three prerequisites that must be met before being deemed winner by economic victory:

• The Interstellar Stock Exchange must have been active for at least 10 turns
• You must control at least 50% of the active shares in the Galactic Monetary Fund
• You must control at least 50% of the Galactic Gross Domestic Product for 10 turns

Now let’s break those three requirements down a bit more…

Interstellar Stock Exchange

This is unlocked once at least one race has constructed a Planetary Stock Exchange (PSE). This structure is unlocked via the Galactic Economics technology. Be careful here, as this is a choice tech, meaning you have to choose either the Planetary Stock Exchange (+2 BC per pop, System Unique) or Advanced City Planning (+5 tiles in all colonies). Of course, you can also gain access to the PSE by trading for the tech in diplomacy or stealing it with espionage. Once the ISE is active all races can begin purchasing shares of the Galactic Monetary Fund.

Galactic Monetary Fund

Also fairly straightforward, this element of the economic victory requires purchasing shares on the Interstellar Stock Exchange. These shares fluctuate in price--they have buy and sell values each turn--based on 1% of the combined Galactic Gross Domestic Product (GGDP). Share prices will increase gradually over the course of the game, with some variation based on purchase activity over the last two turns, but can also decrease in cases where large colonies are destroyed--thus resulting in a dip in the GGDP. All players can purchase shares of the Galactic Monetary Fund, even those not focused on the economic victory. This will be important to keep an eye on as you can use your excess BC to prevent opponents from achieving victory.

Galactic Gross Domestic Product

Here’s where the complexity comes into play. The Galactic Gross Domestic Product is the combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of all races in the galaxy. A race’s GDP is not just about BC generation--it’s influenced by multiple factors. For those into the mechanics under the hood, here is what makes up the GGDP: GGDP = Total Population (including Minor Civilizations) + Total Income (before expenses and operating costs) + Total Production + Total Structures (including orbital defenses) Your GGDP contribution can be increased by doing the following:

• Increasing your BC generation--not just how much profit you make each turn
• Increasing your population
• Focusing population on production
• Completing structures

As you can see, this victory condition is more about building a strong empire infrastructure rather than rapidly colonizing worlds. Build tall, complete your structures and make sure to keep your population focused on production whenever you’re able. Get your Morale structures up and increase your tax rate. Working with minor civilizations proves valuable here, as they gift BC periodically and contribute their GDP to yours once ally. Trade treaties with friendly races will also be very valuable, so be sure to keep them active whenever you’re able. Utilize the Trade Goods project as much as possible to provide a buffer for purchasing GMF shares, buying out structures in the future, gifting BC to minor civilizations, forming trade treaties or to use BC as lump sum payments to races to improve disposition. Keep your GDP above everyone else’s and you’ll be on the fast track to conquering the stars with the new economic victory condition.