Matrix Games Forums

Welcome back, explorers.
We’re pleased to announce that a major update for Distant Worlds 2 is coming soon: the Mercantile Update. This is a significant update designed to refresh and improve the gameplay experience with targeted changes to key areas of the game.

What’s included in the Mercantile Update

• Rework of the two Mercantile Guild factions: the Teekan and the Haakonish.
  Both factions are being refreshed with updated ship textures and new gameplay features, giving them deeper mechanics and a more defined role within the galaxy.

• Improvements to ship and fleet behavior.
  Expect more effective and consistent decision-making in battles and strategic maneuvers, along with numerous refinements addressing corner cases—especially for players who prefer manual control.

• Additional features and quality-of-life updates.
  The update also brings improved UI elements and new notifications related to automation settings, plus a wide range of bug fixes and general improvements.

We look forward to sharing more soon.

So how soon is "soon"? Should I hold off on starting my new game, or are we talking at least 1+ month?

On Discord they said "next week".

Yes, they did mention that the current Beta is supposed to be the last one before a release "hopefully next week". Also, Slitherine Next is coming on December 9 (next Tuesday). I suspect that they want to get the Mercantile Update out by then so that they can point to the greatest wealth of 2025 content, and use that deservedly lofty platform to (fingers crossed) reveal more content for the upcoming Shadow Rising expansion.

So if I have the current beta, then, in essence, I have the Mercantile update?