For most games, you wouldn't get away with releasing a series of screenshots depicting menus. But for 4X strategy buffs, a nice menu is appreciated like an FPS fan appreciates a perfectly recreated gun. Or like an RTS fan appreciates some topographical terrain. Or even like a Saints Row fan appreciates a weaponised dildo. As these screenshots show, Endless Space's Disharmony expansion has some particularly nice menus. The space explosions are really just a bonus.

Also a bonus: the expansion's release date has been set for the 28th of June.

The expansion brings the new Harmony faction, along with enhanced game AI, and a reworked battle system. "We added fighters and bombers, flying space with quasi-realistic-sci-fi flight models, killing each other in dogfights, raiding capital ships," write Amplitude. Head here for more details on the expansion's added features.

On release of the expansion, developer Amplitude will also release the ‘Sheredyn Faction’ and ‘Endless Hero’ from the Emperor Edition, as well as additional "Automaton ship models". These gifts will be provided free to all players, whether they buy Disharmony or not.

Endless Space is already a disharmonious place, with multiple factions locked in turn-based 4X fighting. And the game's developers, Amplitude Studios, have been busy stoking the fires of this conflict, having previously released four free add-ons, introducing new units and factions to the game. Now they're set to unleash the biggest galactic overhaul yet, with Disharmony, Endless Space's first full, paid-for expansion.

A teaser trailer gives you an idea of what to expect. Sort of.



Right, yes, okay... We'll probably need to go elsewhere for firm details on what the expansion contains then. Like Amplitude Studios' Disharmony page.

The star of the pack is the new faction, "The Harmony," who are described as having a "unique play style," albeit one that hasn't yet been revealed. In addition, the expansion will include new units, including fighters and bombers, and an overhauled adaptive AI system.

Here's the full feature list:


"A brand new Faction called “The Harmony” with the main objective to ANNIHILATE DUST!"
"New fighters and bomber units that will completely change the shape of combat, especially with the new Battle Formation and Targeting systems"
"A complete rework of the Ship Design Interface giving an improved Weapon System that includes family types for modules (short, medium and long range)"
"New invasion mechanics have been added: prepare the population for bombardments, sieges and land invasions"
"Expect to face a real challenge when playing against AI opponents with the new Adaptive Multi-Agent Artificial Intelligence System (AMAS)"
"Four new heroes (Games2Gether)"
"A new option to disable exchange of technologies, as a request from the Multiplayer community"
"New Rally Points feature for newly built ships to reduce micromanagement"


"We’re lucky to have a motivated team and even luckier to have such an incredible community," said Amplitude CEO Mathieu Girard. "Our expansion pack has been designed based on player requests and community G2G votes, and we hope that it fulfills – or surpasses – their expectations."

Disharmony will launch this Summer, and will cost $9.99

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.