RimWorld gets surprise Royalty DLC along with the 1.1 update

Sci-fi colony sim RimWorld's first piece of DLC made a surprise appearance today, launching alongside the free 1.1 update. Royalty introduces a new faction of settlers, the Empire, stylishly juxtaposing hyper tech with eon-old traditions steeped in honour and glory.

With the new DLC, colonists can attain regal titles—knights and counts have the ability to call upon allies in times of need, and they've got access to curious psychic powers. They also play everything from "harp to harpsichord."

Obtaining a royal title gives you access to an Imperial psychic amplifier, which allows you to incapacitate your opponents with your mind. This entails everything from sheer mind control to inflicting blindness and buffing allies. When you become a more advanced psycaster, you can even induce vomiting. Naturally, psychic powers can be attained via shadier avenues, too. Those seeking to rebel against the Empire have their own tricky ways of acquiring Imperial amplifiers.

In order to earn a fancy title, you'll need to complete quests. Because RimWorld is a game founded upon story-generation, you'll likely have different quest requirements to anybody else, with each individual story being unique to the world you're currently playing in. After working your way to the last quest in Royalty, you'll be tasked with "host[ing] the Imperial High Stellarch and his elite Stellic Guards in your luxurious court," during which you will "protect them from their enemies, and be invited to leave the rimworld as an honored royal guest."

Other additions include Imperial Tech, new music, and "mech clusters," which are groups of mechanoid buildings that "work together to present a unique tactical challenge." The RimWorld 1.1 free update also went live today. You can view the full list of changes here.

Royalty is available now on Steam, and if you've not picked up the base game, check out our RimWorld review.