Revealing precious little about the game, 2K Games has announced Sid Meier's Starships, to be released for PC, Mac, and iPad. Described as a "turn-based, adventure-driven interstellar strategy game," players step into the role of a commander of a fledgling fleet as they investigate mysterious radio signals from beyond, and likely destroy them in the name of peace. Along the way, the fleet must protect their home planets and civilizations, spacefaring or otherwise, while also looking to gather technological improvements and further their own race's expansion.

Movement looks to feature the same hex-based combat and advancement seen in more recent installments of Civilization games, if the screenshots are anything to go by. Players will also have the ability to customize their ships however they choose to do so, adapting their fleet for each array of interstellar map the game has, and refit their fleets for each new dynamically generated combat mission that they encounter.

What's perhaps most interesting is the announcement of cross-connectivity between Starships and Beyond Earth, though there's no word yet on how exactly the two games will communicate with one another. With the overall lukewarm community reception to Beyond Earth, this might well be enough to rekindle the flames of enjoyment for some, but time will tell. The game is currently slated for an early 2015 release, with no specific date announced at this time.