Do you hear it? The ancient and haunting call of Europa? It's nearly time to return to Jupiter's frozen moon once more in an all-new expansion for Barotrauma: Home & Harbor! Not only will this enormous DLC feature new weapons, factions, and creatures, but a large number of adjustments and quality-of-life changes to the base game. Want to know more? We have all the info you need right here.
First announced in 2025, we finally have a release date for Barotruma: Home & Harbor — December 2, 2026. We still don't know how much this DLC will cost when it launches, but you can wishlist it on Steam. However, this isn't all that's coming! The Companion Update will also arrive a week earlier on November 26, and this will be a free update for all players.
While the base game is also on the Epic Games Store, there's no confirmation yet that Home & Harbor will arrive there at the same time as the Steam release.
While the developers of Barotrauma have regularly released smaller updates, the Home & Harbor expansion will be much larger. According to the studio, this DLC allows them to fix bigger issues with the base game, add entirely new systems, and even expand on in-game lore, such as how humans first came to Europa.
One of the biggest new additions, however, will be the ability for players to build and create their own outposts. Currently, you can only visit outposts that are owned by various factions. With Home & Harbor, you will have the freedom to build your own however you like. Naturally, this also means you must defend your outpost from the numerous threats that live beneath Europa's waters. If you're not crazy about building an outpost of your own from scratch, you can also invade an enemy outpost and make it your own. After destroying all current residents, of course.
Another new feature is an entirely new faction: The Descendants. In lore, this group is descended from the original settlers and explorers of Europa. They also have a more sci-fi aesthetic. This includes their weaponry, which features plenty of lasers and high-tech gadgetry.
Naturally, in addition to their own ideas, the studio also wants to add plenty of fan-requested features. We'll have to be patient as we learn more about exactly what falls into this category. However, we also know that Home & Harbor will add more story through new missions and deeper faction interactions. Luckily, we won't have to wait long for the full release!
Barotrauma: Home & Harbor Release Date
What Will be in Barotrauma: Home & Harbor?
While the developers of Barotrauma have regularly released smaller updates, the Home & Harbor expansion will be much larger. According to the studio, this DLC allows them to fix bigger issues with the base game, add entirely new systems, and even expand on in-game lore, such as how humans first came to Europa.
One of the biggest new additions, however, will be the ability for players to build and create their own outposts. Currently, you can only visit outposts that are owned by various factions. With Home & Harbor, you will have the freedom to build your own however you like. Naturally, this also means you must defend your outpost from the numerous threats that live beneath Europa's waters. If you're not crazy about building an outpost of your own from scratch, you can also invade an enemy outpost and make it your own. After destroying all current residents, of course.
Another new feature is an entirely new faction: The Descendants. In lore, this group is descended from the original settlers and explorers of Europa. They also have a more sci-fi aesthetic. This includes their weaponry, which features plenty of lasers and high-tech gadgetry.
Naturally, in addition to their own ideas, the studio also wants to add plenty of fan-requested features. We'll have to be patient as we learn more about exactly what falls into this category. However, we also know that Home & Harbor will add more story through new missions and deeper faction interactions. Luckily, we won't have to wait long for the full release!
The Free Companions Update
The new faction and the ability to create outposts are the biggest additions coming in the paid DLC, but the free Companions Update will feature new goodies as well. This update is essentially getting everything ready before Home and Harbor arrives. This means some of the new systems such as dismemberment, prosthetics, advanced gardening, and decoration will all be implemented before the DLC is. This also means these are systems that any Barotrauma owner can enjoy without having to buy Home and Harbor. One of the most exciting additions in the Companions Update is a whole new transport submarine! Of course, this update will also bring plenty of optimizations and bug fixes. Longtime fans will be happy to know that a fix to some irksome networking issues regarding a "missing entity" error are on the way.responseTitle
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