Publisher Lighthouse Interactive and developer Kerberos Productions announced plans for an expansion for last year’s 4x space strategy title for the PC, Sword of the Stars. Set for release in mid-April, the expansion, Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood, will add a new alien race (the bloodthirsty Zuul), a new form of strategic movement, new ship sections, 15 new weapons (including boarding pods), new technologies, new scenarios and new unknown menaces.

In addition, the expansion, which will require the original game to run, will also update the core game with a new set of GUI, graphical, and optimization updates. Born of Blood will offer new content for single and multiplayer gameplay, including two new scenarios, five new galaxy types, and newly detailed combat results and status graphs that allow players to track the rise or fall of their empire over time.

The game will also feature more than twenty five new technologies, as well as new diplomatic data and comm systems that will allow players to make demands, ask for help, or even warn players off from the worlds still yet unclaimed. Additionally, those players opting to try their hands at the new Zuul race will be able to take advantage of massive Zuul slaver disks, which allow them to take slaves and use them to boost production on Zuul fortress worlds. Creepy!

Finally, one of the most interesting sounding additions of this expansion is a new trade route system, which promises to make economic control and output even more vital for military success. Star freighters ply the trade routes making money for the player but are also vulnerable to raiders. Active piracy and escort battles enter the Sword of the Stars universe with the add-on, which are to make things a bit more interesting.