The indie scene is about to get a serious shot in the arm, and six games in particular are sitting on updates big enough to justify a full reinstall: Everspace 2 is dropping its second Wrath of the Ancients chapter, Empires of the Undergrowth is overhauling its Formicarium sandbox, Cult of the Lamb is finally leaning into its horror roots with Sins of the Flesh, Dave the Diver keeps stacking crossover content nobody asked for but everybody wants, Core Keeper is cracking open a brand new biome, and Balatro is teasing its first proper content patch since launch. These aren't cosmetic drips — we're talking new zones, new mechanics, and in some cases entire new game loops.
The Anticipation Tier List: Who's Update Actually Matters
Not every "content update" deserves the hype train. Some are glorified balance patches dressed up in a marketing blog post. Here's how these six actually stack up based on scope, dev track record, and how much new stuff you'll actually be doing when the patch lands.
| Game | Tier | Update Name | Estimated Window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everspace 2 | S | Wrath of the Ancients - Part 2 | Early 2025 |
| Empires of the Undergrowth | S | Formicarium Overhaul | Q1 2025 |
| Cult of the Lamb | A | Sins of the Flesh | Rolling 2025 |
| Dave the Diver | A | New Collab & Story Chapter | Ongoing |
| Core Keeper | A | Sunken Sea Biome | Mid 2025 |
| Balatro | B | Friends of Jimbo | TBD |
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View on Steammoz Store →Everspace 2: Wrath of the Ancients Finally Gets Its Second Act
If you've been grinding through the current build of Everspace 2's secret locations and hidden rewards, you already know Rockfish Games doesn't do small expansions. The first Wrath of the Ancients drop added the Ancient Rig region and a whole new enemy faction; the second part is rumored to push into the Zharkov system with a fresh boss encounter that scales off your Devastator-class ship builds specifically. Expect a new legendary weapon tier — think Devastator cannons pushing past the current 1,850 base damage ceiling — plus a rework to the Ancient artifact perk trees that currently cap at Tier 5.
One thing worth flagging early: past DLC drops for this game have come with stability hiccups on older GPUs. If you ran into crashes during the first Wrath of the Ancients rollout, our breakdown on fixing Everspace 2 crashes by tackling FPS first is still the fastest way to get your frame pacing sorted before the new content lands. And if you're still running base-game loadouts, it's worth revisiting which guns are actually worth your credits — our Everspace weapon upgrade guide breaks down exactly which cannons scale best into endgame content like this.
Empires of the Undergrowth: The Formicarium Sandbox Gets Serious
Slug Disco's ant colony sim has quietly become one of the deepest strategy indies on Steam, and the Formicarium overhaul is set to double the sandbox's replay value. The current cap on colony population sits around 400 workers before performance tanks on mid-range rigs; the overhaul patch notes hint at optimization passes meant to push that ceiling toward 600+ without the frame drops we've seen in late-game colonies. New species are also on the table — leafcutter ants with a dedicated fungus-farming subsystem that functions almost like its own economy layer.
If you're still building up your colony's gold reserves before the patch drops, now's the time to get efficient. Our fast leveling and gold farming guide for Empires of the Undergrowth walks through the exact chamber layouts that maximize resource throughput, which matters even more once the new species with higher upkeep costs join the roster.
Cult of the Lamb: Sins of the Flesh Turns Up the Horror Dial
Massive Monster's cult-management roguelite has spent two years adding content (Relics of the Old Faith, Unholy Alliance), but Sins of the Flesh is being pitched as the darkest tonal shift yet. Early patch notes point to a new corruption mechanic tied to your followers' faith stat — currently capped at 100 devotion — where pushing past that threshold triggers permanent mutations instead of the usual doctrine unlocks. There's also chatter about a fifth region beyond Darkwood, Anura, Silk Cradle, and The Old Faith's realm, which would be the first brand-new biome since launch.
The roguelite dungeon layer is also getting rebalanced. Current weapon tiers (Axe, Sword, Dagger, Hammer) sit fairly flat in DPS output around 8-12 per hit at base rarity; leaked patch data suggests a Curse weapon subtype that scales directly off your corruption meter, rewarding players who lean into the new mechanic instead of avoiding it.
Dave the Diver: The Collab Machine Keeps Rolling
Mintrocket's breakout hit has built its entire post-launch strategy around surprise crossovers — Godzilla, Death Stranding, even a Resident Evil-flavored event — and the next wave is reportedly bringing a new narrative chapter tied to the Blue Hole's deepest layer, currently locked behind depth level 74. The update is expected to raise the depth ceiling toward 90+, introducing new fish species with sushi-grade rarity multipliers that directly boost your restaurant's nightly revenue cap, which currently plateaus around 45,000 Bancho Sushi credits per service on fully upgraded setups.
What makes this update actually matter (not just filler) is the new gear progression tied to the deeper zones — harpoon guns with piercing stats that finally make late-game legendary fish fights feel fair instead of a damage sponge slog.
Core Keeper: The Sunken Sea Biome Cracks Open
Pugstorm's mining survival hit has been on a steady biome-a-year cadence since launch, and the Sunken Sea update is shaping up to be the biggest since the Sandstone Desert drop. Expect underwater traversal mechanics that finally give the Diving Gear slot a real purpose, alongside a new boss — early datamines point to a leviathan-type enemy with a three-phase fight structure, each phase gated behind flooding the arena to different depth levels.
| Update | New Content Type | Estimated Playtime Added | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everspace 2 - Wrath Pt.2 | Story + Zone + Boss | 8-12 hours | Paid DLC |
| Empires Formicarium | Sandbox Overhaul | Unlimited (sandbox) | Free |
| Cult of the Lamb Sins | Region + Mechanic | 6-10 hours | Free |
| Dave the Diver Collab | Story Chapter | 3-5 hours | Free |
| Core Keeper Sunken Sea | Biome + Boss | 10-15 hours | Free |
| Balatro Friends of Jimbo | Deck/Meta Rework | Varies (replay value) | TBD |
Balatro: Friends of Jimbo Is the Wild Card
LocalThunk hasn't confirmed a hard date, but the "Friends of Jimbo" teaser has the deckbuilding community buzzing anyway. Balatro's current joker pool sits at 150 cards, and the rumored patch would introduce a second currency layer alongside standard chips and mult — something that reportedly interacts with the game's existing Boss Blind modifiers instead of just adding more jokers on top of an already-dense pool. If you've hit a wall optimizing your runs, it's worth checking the official Balatro website for patch confirmations before building your next deck around rumors.
For the other titles on this list, keeping tabs on official channels matters just as much — check Everspace 2's Steam page, Empires of the Undergrowth's Steam page, and Cult of the Lamb's official Steam listing for the actual patch notes once they drop, since indie devs love shifting release windows without much warning.
Should You Wait or Play Now?
Honestly? Play now. Every single one of these games is already worth your time in its current state, and jumping in early means you'll have a fully leveled colony, a maxed-out ship, or a stacked deck ready to absorb whatever the new content throws at you. If your rig is on the older side and you're worried about how these updates will hit performance, it's worth brushing up on general optimization habits — the kind of tuning we cover in guides like Filament's settings-for-higher-FPS breakdown applies just as well to indie titles running on Unity or custom engines that haven't been patched for newer hardware yet.
These six updates aren't filler patches — they're the kind of content drops that redefine what these games actually are. Get your saves ready.