Next week Astro Protocol will participate in #TurnBasedThursdayFest on Steam, and on Thursday, March 12, we’re releasing a major content update: a complete overhaul of the minor faction diplomacy system.
Minor factions are no longer passive bonuses but political actors with memory and long-term reactions to your behavior. They now remember actions such as attacks, trade, or conflicts with their enemies, making relations persistent throughout the match. Diplomacy is no longer about briefly excelling in one area of the game, improving relations requires sustained effort over time.
Each minor faction exists in one of five diplomatic states: Enemy, Hostile, Neutral, Allied, or Vassal. Moving between them demands consistent strategic choices.
You can now interact with minor factions through several new diplomatic actions:
Trade resources
Gift resources to improve relations
Build minor faction ship types
Purchase technologies
Influence relations through new anomaly rewards
Four new minor factions join the galaxy: Miners, Radiants, Mercenaries, and Traders.
In addition, all eight existing minor factions have been reworked, including redesigned mechanics and updated ship rosters to better reflect their identities and strategic roles. The major factions will be able to build the minor faction ships through diplomacy or conquest.
The Minor Faction Diplomacy Update fundamentally changes how you approach expansion, conflict, and political positioning. The update will be available in the Steam beta a few days before release. Join our Discord to get notified about the beta updates and discuss the new features.
Choose your allies carefully.