Diaspora expansion will enter Steam early access on December 9, 2026

This is a new development in a story we reported earlier: Freehold Games will release first Steam Early access DLC for Caves of Qud.

According to RPG Site and Game Developer, Diaspora expansion will enter Steam early access on December 9, 2026. RPG Site states the expansion costs $14.99 USD for its early access release. It also states players can choose from animal and plant genotypes—selectable origins that determine starting traits—including dog, cat, frog, chameleon, vine, or tree. RPG Site states the expansion adds a spear weapon that permits attacks from two tiles away.

It also states the expansion introduces new true kin (a faction of human descendants), arcologies (large self‑contained settlements), and castes (sub‑groups within the faction) listed as Propeller, Starsteer, Man of Kelp, and Delphine. RPG Site states mountable saltbacks (a creature used as a mount) and Dromad caravans (groups of Dromad beasts used for transport) are available for transport and trade. It also states road and river generation now uses more sophisticated algorithms to create complex networks.

RPG Site states the DLC adds many new creatures to surface and subterranean habitats. It also states it adds new items and associated cultures to surface and subterranean habitats. Game Developer states the team chose early access to fund development incrementally without compromising the vision due to slow development pace. It also states Freehold Games says early access lets the community stress test Diaspora’s complex, interlocking systems.

Game Developer states Valve made a manual backend change to enable early access DLC distribution on Steam for this project. It also notes the store page review initially flagged the early access DLC setup as a bug. Game Developer states Caves of Qud originally entered Steam early access in 2015. It also states it remained there until its 1.0 release in 2024.