The game was developed by Meier and a small team at Firaxis. In his concept, Meier wanted to focus on starship creation, including highly configurable ships, and space combat, while providing the player with 'a universe filled with interstellar adventure, diplomacy, and exploration'. Starships was based on Sid Meier's idea of extending the Beyond Earth setting, in which the player guides the development of one of several human colonies on an alien world, and he considers it a further narrative of that game, exploring the universe and encountering other human colonies and threats it may hold. The game features cross-connectivity features with Beyond Earth for those that own both titles.

Spacecraft in the fleet can be highly customized for meeting certain goals.

The player will use the fleet to explore the galaxy, meeting other human and alien forces, and dealing with problems through a combination of military, diplomatic, and other strategic options. The game is a stand-alone title but shares the same universe as Civilization: Beyond Earth, putting the player in control of a fleet of space-faring craft. It was released on Mafor Microsoft Windows, OS X, and iOS. Sid Meier's Starships is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K.

Sid meier's starships steam download