X4: Foundations

X4: Foundations launched on November 30, 2018, and Egosoft has sustained an impressive post-launch development track record for nearly eight years. The game has received five major paid expansions — Split Vendetta (March 2020), Cradle of Humanity (March 2021), Tides of Avarice (March 2022), Kingdom End (April 2023), and Timelines (June 2024) — plus two smaller ship packs: the Hyperion Pack (February 2025) and the Envoy Pack (September 2025). Each major expansion has been paired with a substantial free update for all players. The most recent major content drop is the free 9.00 "Empire Update," which launched on June 10, 2026. It delivered the largest combat rebalance in the game's history, a new Priority Orders system, a reworked resource system, a new Kha'ak recycling economy loop, and more. Crucially, a developer post from July 1, 2026 — just six weeks ago — explicitly confirms that a future major update is already being planned. Egosoft announced an upcoming graphics API upgrade to Vulkan 1.4, describing it as "the next major update after 9.00" and stating they "can't wait to show you what this new technical foundation will allow us to do in the future." This is a direct developer statement confirming that development of the next update is underway. The 9.00 launch post on June 10, 2026 also stated: "The Empire Update might be out of beta, but as you know, we never stop working on the game." The established cadence of major updates — approximately every 9–15 months — combined with this explicit confirmation of a planned follow-up update means the game is clearly in an ongoing development cycle with more content to come.