The historical strategy game East India Company is getting a new patch, but it's not called a patch. It's called the "designer's cut", which is a new one on me. Among the changes announced in the press release:

new port views, the ability to fight tactical battles on island environment, providing completely new tactical elements, the introduction of multiplayer modes "Beehive" and "Breakthrough", history graphs to help track long term progress, and many more new features to make East India Company a deeper experience than ever before.

As disappointed as I was with some aspects of East India Company when it was released, I can't fault developer Nitro Games for their excellent post-release support, which is well on its way to invalidating every complaint I've raised.

Contrast this with Creative Assembly, whose historical strategy game Empire: Total War was similarly disappointing. Their post-release support has included selling more content for a game that's still broken, while writing a jeremiad about how tough it is to lie in the bed you've made.

The new patch designer's cut for East India Company will be available on October 27th.