Stardock has announced plans to launch the second beta phase for "Sins of a Solar Empire" on June 21st.

"Gamers who missed the first phase of the Sins of a Solar Empire beta test will soon get another chance to play Stardock and Ironclad’s highly anticipated strategy game ahead of its February 2008 release. Beta 2 launches on June 21 for anyone who has pre-ordered Sins of a Solar Empire via TotalGaming.net, and includes a ton of new features that will be included in the final game, as well as tweaks and fixes based on feedback from beta testers.

Sins of a Solar Empire is an epic RT4X strategy game, providing grand-scale strategic gameplay in a real-time environment. Beta 2 once again allows would-be galactic commanders to play through single-player sandbox games as the Trader Emergency Coalition (TEC), acting as high-level strategists to conquer new planets and to manage diplomatic relations, then seamlessly moving to the role of battle commander — directing individual ships to attack priority targets — via Sins’ breakthrough 3D game engine.

In Beta 2, Ironclad Games has implemented an upgraded Bounty system including Marauding Pirates, an improved interface including the new Event Tracking System, an expanded combat and tactical-counter model, improved planetary management, a new Capital Planet system, an expanded tech tree, upgraded strategic and tactical AI, even more strategic options, a refined economic system, improved graphics and much more. New players don’t need to worry about getting lost in the new features, as Beta 2 also includes two new advanced tutorials and enhancements to existing tutorials to introduce new gameplay concepts.

Sins of a Solar Empire can be pre-ordered for $44.95 or 5 TGN tokens at totalgaming.stardock.com/games/?id=SINS. For more info about the game, visit the official website at www.sinsofasolarempire.com."