Full release notes here.

Forge Of Empires (Formerly Known As Sidekicks)

This is basically an unofficial DLC4, and it's free, and it's created by one of the main developers of the game (Badger). Originally, the Sidekicks mod started life as something a lot more modest, but it grew to a degree where the name was really no longer relevant. So... what is this thing:

• 4 new player empires.
  
• Dyson Empire: 4 races unite to create dyson spheres to help resist the AI
  
• Scourge Infused Empire: Control your scourge allies as they help you fight the AI
  
• Dark Zenith Empire: Lead the Dark Zenith as they seize the galaxy
  
• Armada Empire: 2 races fight the AI and their new allies, while making friends along the way.
  
• 13 AI Types, including the brand new "Hateful" AI type, that just uses people's least favorite AI ships
  

Other New Pieces

• Mod organization: Featured Mods are now shown at the top of the mod list, along with Forge of Empires, with the goal being to make it easy for players to find interesting and exciting mods to enhance their gameplay.
  
• Four mods are featured to start with:
  
• Points of Interest and Generator are both cool mods to increase the variety of your galaxies.
  
• DPSHud gives you a new way to understand combat.
  
• Extended Ship Variants gives you a lot of new ship lines to play with.
  

Heart of the Machine

Heart of the Machine is continuing to evolve. It's currently on discount for 35% off for the first time ever! Update 18, Update 19, and Update 20 all went live this week, and are each notable in their own way. They've been in progress for a while. Update 21 will be out later tonight, in just a few hours, and has the new The Executive Tomb side story. This is a great time to dive into the game if you haven't yet!