Stardock’s upcoming strategy game, Galactic Civilizations III, reached its Beta stage in development, and is currently available for a discount of $5, leaving the total price at $44.99. The Beta-build game was released on Steam, as an Early Access title, and the game’s official website. It is only available, as of now, for 64-bit PC owners.

Courtesy of Stardock

Along with this developmental development, a gameplay trailer was released. The trailer shows gameplay for the newest Galactic Civilizations installment, strictly from the new Beta stage. A narrator in the video also explains the general structure of the game, as well as the options that players can explore and pursue. This trailer can be found at the bottom of the article.

According to a press release, the Beta-build of Galactic Civilizations III was developed with the assistance of feedback from those who played the earlier Alpha version. The game’s community has also created designs for the game’s ship designer, which has also undergone improvements from the game’s developers for the Beta version, according to a release.

Re-imagined starship combat and trade are planned to be available for online play “in the coming months,” according to a release. For now, in the Beta version, players can engage in battle and play sandbox games in online multiplayer.

Primarily in the game, players pick a fictional, or human, race and colonize, develop, militarize, and expand their galactic empire. Each race has their own specific “technology tree” that develops on a certain path to give players unique playthroughs, according to a release.

Starship fleets are managed and customized to give players a way to defend their colonies, or attack others. Galactic Civilizations III also gives players the option to increase their space in space by non-violent methods as well.

Those waiting for the full and final version of Galactic Civilizations III, will have to sit until spring 2015 with bated breath, or lack thereof, to launch into space civilization. Stardock is holding live-stream sessions on Twitch every Friday, 3 p.m. EST, according to a release. The game’s website is obviously a great way to learn more, too.