Endless Space has received its fourth free add-on pack, Virtual Awakening. The update, launched in celebration of selling 300,000 copies of the 4X turn-based strategy, adds a bunch of new features unlocked during last year's free weekend. The more people who participated in that event, the more new items would be unlocked. And given the size of the changelist, it's safe to say the galaxies were swarming with would-be colonisers.
Four new heroes have been added, including the titular Virtual Endless, along with new buildings, technology, planet anomalies, random events and exploration awards. There are pirates, too.
"Driven by their need to terraform and cultivate, it was only a matter of time before the Automatons turned their eyes to the least hospitable planets: Gas giants. A probe ship departed for an uncolonized system, hoping to test technology that could transform these jovian worlds into something livable.
"It was a nice plan, but luck and reality had other ideas. The gas giant had a derelict platform orbiting it that had been of the Virtual Endless war effort -- and the Virtuals had left a guard behind. Worse yet, the system was rich in minerals from its asteroid belts, so a small but well-equipped group of Pirates was also keeping an eye on it."
Amplitude Studios have also rolled in a round of balance changes, bug fixes and AI improvements. In all, it's a meaty update to the game. The full patch notes can be found here .
If you're interested in picking up Endless Space, which we were impressed by even before the inclusion of four free add-on packs, it's 50% on Steam for the next week, reducing the price to £11.49.
