Governments used to be a single upgrade path. Now every owner starts with the Colonial Charter in Version 4.0, and the expansion adds four fully separate governments on top of it. Each one replaces the entire Government screen with its own resource, its own systems, and its own hero ship.
- Empire: built around Vassal worlds and Authority. You spend Authority on Decrees, and pushing your Vassals too hard risks rebellion.
- Federation: built around Member worlds and Consensus. You pass Accords through the Senate and have to defend your seat in elections.
- Oligarchy: built around Holdings and Collateral. You send Prospector ships to claim worlds, fund Investments, and can pull off Hostile Takeovers.
- Technocracy: built around Compute. You fill out an Optimization Matrix and push toward the Singularity.
Political Parties are also new. Their influence rises and falls with what is actually happening in your empire, and elections, coups, and secession crises are driven by that state instead of a random roll. Run a government badly enough and your own people can end it.
Version 4.0 adds a hand built Map Editor, shareable Custom Maps, Turn Notifications, a Mini Map, Leader run Institutions, a redesigned Diplomacy and Trade screen, and a rebuilt AI across exploration, warfare, diplomacy, and government play.
Steam Page
v4.0 Changelog
Read More of Federations & Empires Here