RimWorld Odyssey: Release Date, Gravships, and Everything in the New Expansion

The sci-fi colony sim is getting a major addition. RimWorld Odyssey expands the planet well beyond what most colonists could realistically walk to, layering in new biomes, wildlife, weapons, quests, and a personal flying base called the Gravship. If your colony is tired of marching for days across the map, this expansion finally gives them a faster option.

When Does RimWorld Odyssey Release?

According to the official announcement on Steam, the Odyssey expansion launches on July 11, 2025. On the same day, Ludeon is shipping the free Update 1.6 patch.

The two are separate. Odyssey is paid DLC that adds new systems and content. Update 1.6 is a no-cost upgrade focused on performance tweaks, quality of life refinements, and other improvements to the base game. You will get 1.6 whether or not you buy the expansion.

What RimWorld Odyssey Adds

Gravships: Travel the Planet (and Off It)

The headline feature is the Gravship, a personal flying base your colony builds, expands, and eventually lives inside. You can start with a small airship and grow it into a mobile colony over time, landing almost anywhere on the map to chase quests or loot. Powering it up means collecting Gravcores scattered across the world.

Gravships are not limited to the atmosphere. Once you push into orbit, you can prowl asteroids, satellites, and abandoned platforms for salvage, while dealing with rival scavengers who had the same idea. Space adds its own headaches: oxygen has to be managed, and mechanoids roam the dark looking for trouble.

New Biomes and a Landmark System

Odyssey introduces several new biomes, each with its own hooks and hazards:

• Glowforest: bioluminescent fungi lighting up an otherwise dim woodland.
• Scarlands: war-scarred cities patrolled by mutants and washed by toxic rain.
• Grasslands: lush and agriculturally productive, but vulnerable to droughts and wildfires.
• Glacial Plains and Lava Fields: extreme temperature swings that punish unprepared colonists. Build shelters or regret it.

The expansion also adds a landmark system, so individual maps now feature things like cliffs, valleys, islands, and abandoned colonies. Two Scarlands maps will no longer feel like copies of each other.

Over 40 New Wildlife Species

More than 40 new creatures arrive with Odyssey. You can tame, train, trade, or eat them, sometimes in that order. Colonies start with crows, which can develop into exotic birds. Pets like cats and dogs lift mood, and trained animals can tag along on hunts to improve your odds of bringing back dinner instead of becoming it.

Fishing is also part of the package. Find fishable bodies of water across different biomes and reel in salmon, tuna, or something stranger living deep enough to be a problem.

New Quests, Weapons, Traps, and Enemies

Caravans gain a fresh set of missions: tracking mythical creatures, raiding ancient crypts, and scavenging orbital platforms. None of it comes without risk.

For the new threats, Odyssey ships new gear. Shotguns and AI-assisted rifles join the arsenal, and they pair nicely against sentries, mechanoid units, and the insect hive queen.

The Mechhive

Deeper in space sits the Mechhive, a structure where mechanoids reproduce without limit. Their goal is simple and unflattering: wipe out humanity on the planet below. Your job, if you accept it, is to find the Mechhive and shut it down. Or, if you are feeling ambitious, take it over and rule it yourself. Long-time RimWorld players will recognize which option tends to spiral into a better story.