RimWorld enthusiasts celebrate! The latest Odyssey expansion introduces interstellar escapades along with a complimentary 1.6 update that includes enhancements eagerly anticipated by the community.
A reason to celebrate for all admirers of one of the finest construction games! Developer Ludeon Studios has announced Odyssey, the fifth expansion for RimWorld. While the new content is thrilling, the community’s genuine excitement comes from another feature included in the free 1.6 update, representing a significant shift for RimWorld.
## Journey amongst the stars: What the new Odyssey expansion offers
With the Odyssey expansion ([available on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3022790/RimWorld__Odyssey/)), you’ll embark on an adventure to unexplored territories. The emphasis is on constructing your own grav ship, which functions not only as a transport vehicle but also as your mobile, aerial headquarters. Rather than being anchored to a specific spot on the planet, you can navigate the globe with your vessel, land wherever you choose, and discover new biomes.
Expect to find luminous mushroom forests in eternal night, battle-scarred ruins inhabited by hazardous mutants, and expansive meadows. The expansion boasts over 40 new animal species, ranging from adorable prairie dogs to formidable wildcats.
But the journey extends beyond the planet’s crust: **You can even navigate your ship into orbit** to explore forsaken space stations, asteroids, and mechanoid wreckages for valuable technology. In the meantime, an ancient machine intelligence stirs in the cosmos, introducing a new risk.
## The complimentary update 1.6 encompasses everything
As thrilling as all this sounds, the genuine buzz for many fans in the [Steam comment sections](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/294100/view/498322216088241321) is tied to the concurrent release of update 1.6, which will be free for all holders of the base game. The cause of the excitement is the solution to an issue that can frustrate any veteran RimWorld player: **performance during the late game.**
Ludeon Studios has implemented substantial technical modifications to tackle this. Arguably the most crucial change is the complete overhaul of the pathfinding system, now equipped with multithreading support. The lighting system has also been fine-tuned for multiple CPU cores.
In simple terms, this implies that the game can finally allocate the processing demand caused by hundreds of colonists, animals, and adversaries across various cores of your processor.
The outcomes shared by the developers, led by mastermind Tynan Sylvester, in their [blog](https://ludeon.com/blog/2025/06/announcing-odyssey-and-update-1-6/) appear impressive:
– **Accelerated game launches:** The loading duration of the game, including all expansions, has decreased from 18.57 seconds to merely 4.66 seconds on a test setup – even with the inclusion of the new Odyssey expansion in the calculations.
– **Enhanced late game experience:** In late game saves featuring extensive colonies, a measured increase in game speed (ticks per second) of 20 to 30 percent was observed.
YouTuber Veequeue has already scrutinized the performance enhancements in a video, and even **colonies hosting 400 to 500 inhabitants** now seem to operate smoothly:
However, update 1.6 offers significantly more than just a performance enhancement. It introduces a multitude of quality-of-life enhancements and new features, many of which resemble official incorporations of popular mods – such as refined planning tools for your base or airborne creatures.
Both the Odyssey expansion and the closing update 1.6 are projected to launch in about a month. If you wish to try it out sooner, you can access version 1.6 now through the Unstable branch on Steam and experience the technical improvements firsthand – but remember that your mods will no longer function.
The article [New add-on for RimWorld is coming, but the best new feature is free for everyone and technically revolutionary.](https://www.global-esports.news/general/new-add-on-for-rimworld-is-coming-but-the-best-new-feature-is-free-for-everyone-and-technically-revolutionary/) first appeared on [Global Esport News](https://www.global-esports.news).