Empire Of Sin's first DLC and major free update launch November 18th
Make It Count and Precinct Update arrive the same day
Turn-based crim sim Empire Of Sin's first DLC, Make It Count, and free Precinct update will both arrive on the same day, November 18th. The free update adds new subdivided neighbourhoods as well as new victory conditions, while the paid DLC adds a new crime boss and more.
Here's the announcement trailer for Make It Count from earlier this year:
The DLC adds Maxim Zelnick, a crime boss and "fixer" with the ability to call in two reinforcements during combat. It also brings the Fixer gangster profession, who can bribe their way out of combat, and a new loan shark racket with unique events.
Make It Count will cost £11.39/€15/$15 when it launches, but in some ways the free update is the more exciting part. It aims to revamp and expand a bunch of Empire Of Sin's systems, in part to respond to criticism about the original release.
Precincts, for example, are subdivisions of neighbourhoods that players fight to control. In the current game, you can open rackets wherever you like, and losing some later in the game doesn't have a huge impact. Losing a precinct, which is a substantial chunk of territory, means that there will be greater consequences after the update.
Empire's developers have been putting out dev diaries to explain the new systems, including how precincts interact with supply lines, police, and how the AI will make decisions about their own expansion.
The free update also adds a diplomatic win condition, another condition based on owning 40% of all rackets, new ways of managing police activity, new interior art and more. Most excitingly, it is apparently due to add modding, which has been in testing recently.
Our Empire Of Sin review deemed it a "wonderfully ambitious mashup of systems", held back by bugs and pacing issues. Hopefully these updates can help it shine.