I have just put the finishing touches on My Colony v2.4.0 and the update should be hitting all platforms over the coming hours/days. This update includes a major change to the in-game chat, so let's get into it!

Many of you have known this was coming for some time now, but Ape Chat, the slide-out chat sidebar, has been removed from the game. This is because the Ape Chat service itself is going offline, so tying the in-game chat to that server was no longer a viable option.

In-game chat is now using the same relay server that the Galactic Board of Trade uses, which is how the chat service used to function before Ape Chat came around. The implication of this is that, while the game still has real time chat communication, it no longer retains a history of the chat roll, and you can't go back and look at previous communications that occurred when you were offline. This change also helps me avoid the new age verification regulations that are coming online right now in many jurisdictions across the globe.

There are some cosmetic changes with this release as well. In the chat area, if a user has customized their display username in the Ape Apps Account Portal, that will now be displayed instead of their login name.

You may also notice a subtle change to the header bar in some of the in-game windows. I thought it was too cramped before, so I added a bit of extra padding to it, just to make it look a little nicer.

Players on the Steam version of the game will notice that the Steam overlay should now be working properly in the game.

On all platforms, I think I finally have the game fully working when you are in a no-internet connection scenario, so it should now be fully playable offline. If I am wrong on this, please report it in the official Discord channel.

Finally, I added support in the game for a new Ape Apps Launcher feature that allows users to create a new colony under your charter code, right from the Launcher home screen. If you are playing MC1 in an online game with an independent colony, other users on your friends list will now be notified that they can join your charter with a single click.

So that is all for today's update. There will be a big announcement/reveal coming soon for the newly revamped My Colony 2, but I will save that for later. The Discord crew already has an idea of what is coming, but I think you will all like it. Until then, thank you for playing My Colony and stay tuned for more!