2K Games announces the Rising Tide expansion pack, a new add-on coming to Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, Firaxis' sci-fi strategy game this autumn. Word is this "introduces aquatic gameplay, an overhauled diplomacy system, hybrid Affinities and more." There are details and screenshots on the Civilization website, and here's a feature list:

• Building floating settlements and accessing natural resources hidden beneath the seas of the alien planet, while alien beasts with unique abilities inhabit the water and challenge players in distinctive ways;
• Shaping the diplomatic landscape by upgrading traits, changing diplomatic relationships, and leveraging the benefits of your allies, all with political capital;
• Unlocking a dynamic set of Diplomatic Traits while activating different combinations in response to the changing world;
• Playing as one of four new factions, including the Al Falah, a group of nomad explorers descended from wealthy and resilient Middle Eastern states;
• Investing in multiple Affinities to unlock hybrid Affinity units and upgrades for the first time;
• Collecting and combining alien relics via a new Artifact System that unlocks powerful benefits;
• Exploring one of two new biomes, Primordial world, an untamed biome rife with volcanic activity and indicative of a chaotic landscape still forming in the new world.