The X4: Foundations 7.0 Update Will Make This The Best Space Simulation Game

X4: Foundations is a popular space simulation game released for Linux and Windows in 2018. Developed by Egosoft, the Germany-based studio is responsible for a successful series of X games with the predecessor to X4 being X: Rebirth. X4: Foundations has been updated with multiple large free updates and four downloadable content (DLC) expansions, the most recent being X4: Kingdom End in 2023. Update 7.0 will be released sometime in 2024 with the next major expansion called X4: Timelines. This could make the space sim I enjoy playing one of the best in class.

What is X4: Foundations?

If you’re familiar with Elite: Dangerous, Star Citizen, and Freelancer, X4: Foundations is similar to all three yet different in many ways. Whereas Elite: Dangerous focuses on realism, exploration, and ship piloting, and Star Citizen is being developed as the most demanding yet realistic space MMO ever built, X4: Foundations focuses on simulating a live and vibrant galactic economy. Ever ware is produced by station modules, which in turn is used by other station modules to produce other wares. These are then used to build ships, station modules, consumables, and about anything you interact with.

It’s a game that simulates an incredibly complex economy of supply and demand, as well as warfare between multiple factions and races. In the same vein as RuneScape (the correct version), you start as a nobody. From here how you wish to develop your character in X4 is entirely down to you. It’s possible to do just about anything. Pirating NPC ships, causing them to bail, and selling for profits is possible, so long as you can safely avoid the local police and larger faction fleets. Exploring every system (and there are many of them!), and deploying satellites and resource probes to map out all gates and points of interest are also on the cards.

Exploring the unknown in X4: Foundations

X4: Foundations focuses on simulating a live and vibrant galactic economy.

Don’t fancy getting involved in any form of conflict? Start up a bustling trade empire with a fleet of NPC-controlled ships flying your banner and make the most credits. The universe can be affected by your decisions, even if you remain out of combat. Tired of how a faction is taking down an ally? Blacklist all their stations and cause their economy to slump, bolstering up your chosen faction’s reserves for shipbuilding. Almost every ship can be piloted by you, including the largest vessel class. All your assets, ships, and stations, can be managed from the 3D map view, placing orders and turning the game into Stellaris.

Quests can be completed, systems captured by your fleets, and hostile enemies to defend against. After you’ve spent a few hours micro-managing your fleets, you can safely land at a dock on an L-class miner and enjoy the sights of the nearby asteroid field as it goes about its business mining away before docking with a station offering the best price. X4: Foundations is a game you can truly lose yourself in.

X4: Foundations

X4: Foundations is an immersive space simulation game with ship combat, fully simulated economy, faction warfare, missions, storylines, empire management, exploration, and much more. It’s a game that offers experiences to cater to different needs.

What is X4: Timelines?

X4: Timelines is the next DLC expansion for the base game, offering players a wide range of scenarios to experience different aspects of X4 gameplay. Think of them like tutorial missions, interactive stories, and challenging gameplay to try something new in the space sandbox. Playing through these scenarios, available as standalone missions, will unlock additional Timelines content and some bonuses for X4 sandbox universes, including classic ships from older X games.

There will be a new storyline with the release of X4: Timelines where you will take control of Harper Donel, a risky trader in the border territories. After an encounter with a certain faction, you will be tasked with taking Harper through intrigue and revelation as you begin to piece together what has happened and how to help shape the future of the universe. It’s a unique expansion for Egosoft with previous entries focusing on adding races and factions to the main game.

What is in X4: Foundations 7.0?

X4: Foundations update 7.0 is the primary driver of this piece because it’s a huge upgrade to the game that will change many aspects and further refine the overall experience before installing a single mod. There’s an improved third-person mode for flying ships to make it viable with UI and other visual elements moving from the first-person view. There are new ships for specific factions, some of which the player can capture, and additional technological improvements to the engine with new damage and explosion effects!

New Teladi and Argon capital ships

Larger vessels from Teladi and Argon factions were … lacking. The Teladi ships were nicknamed mushrooms because they resembled the vegetation and looked strange propulsing through space. Argon ships were very similar in design and looked slightly bulky with very little length. The redesigned capital ships, denoted by an E for Enhanced after their names, are a vast improvement and help differentiate the factions from other capital vessels.

New (flyable) Xenon alien ships

One faction that was also unavailable to players was Xenon, for obvious reasons. The machine race is hell-bent on wiping the galaxy of all life and so why would it allow organisms to pilot its ships? That’s all changed with the new PE and SE vessels (upgraded P and S ships), which can be captured, piloted, and even upgraded by the player. There’s also a larger Xenon capital ship that can be captured for heavier warfare.

New endgame “existential” crisis

One area a sandbox game, be it an RPG or a space sim, can become stale is when you grow too powerful for NPCs to handle. X4: Foundations is no different, which is why Egosoft has worked on a new existential crisis for those who meet strict criteria with the value of owned military vessels and stations. The hive-like Kha’ak are back and they’re more powerful than a mere nuisance. You’ll need to band together with allies to take on this new threat.

The public beta is underway and I’ve been having an absolute blast with all the latest changes and improvements. The new UI glow effect is not to everyone’s tastes, according to Reddit and the wider community testing the beta, but I think it adds character to the game and makes everything seem more science-fiction. With these new improvements, I’ve managed to put down Elite: Dangerous and enjoy a more immersive X4 game with just about everything I could ask for from a space simulator.

X4 is even better with an ultrawide screen

You’ve probably noticed the screenshots I’ve used from the X4: Foundations 7.0 beta look slightly off compared to our usual aspect ratio because they were taken on my 32:9 49-inch ultrawide monitor. It’s the perfect companion for playing such a game. Egosoft fully supports this aspect ratio and the UI scales accordingly. Most importantly, space has never looked so good on screen. If you’ll try out X4: Foundations and seek the quintessential gaming experience, I highly recommend buying one.