# Space Engineers Space Engineers: Apex Survival Live Now! - Product: Space Engineers (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/space-engineers) - Vendor: Keen Software House - Date: 2025-09-08 - Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/244850/view/499453279763169525 - Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/space-engineers/releases/2025-09-08-space-engineers-apex-survival-live-now What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog. Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'. --- - **added** — Food system as a core survival mechanic with customizable consumption rates and food bar in HUD - **added** — Nine new food items that serve as ingredients for crafting Meal Packs - **added** — Algae Farm block for harvesting algae as a basic food source - **added** — Farm Plot block for growing Fruit, Grain, Mushrooms, and Vegetables with water requirements - **added** — Irrigation System block that processes ice into water for crops - **added** — Food Processor block with Harvesting category to convert food items into Seed or Spore Packs - **added** — Forageable bushes on Pertam, Earthlike, and Alien planets that respawn over time - **added** — Buff system with customizable effects - **added** — Environmental hazards including radiation and weather effects - **added** — Meaningful death mechanic - **added** — New Space encounters available - **added** — Decorative blocks in the Apex Survival Pack for base customization - **changed** — Wolves now drop Mammal Meat - **changed** — Sabiroids now drop Insect Meat - **changed** — Food system is enabled by default in all new survival worlds and disabled by default in creative mode - **changed** — Existing worlds can enable new Apex Survival features without starting fresh Hello, Engineers! We’re excited to introduce **Apex Survival**, the next major evolution of Space Engineers. This free update brings new survival mechanics to the game, adding **food, farming, environmental hazards, meaningful death** and a brand-new **buff system**. Everything is **optional and fully configurable** – you can fine-tune the experience to suit your playstyle. Whether you want a hardcore survival challenge where venturing outside a grid is a constant threat, or a relaxed farming loop while building your perfect base, Apex Survival lets you decide how to play. The **[Apex Survival Pack](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3858380/Space_Engineers__Apex_Survival_Pack/)** includes new decorative blocks accompanying this update – perfect for bringing your bases to life. Add lush greenery, detailed grow spaces, and new design variants to create habitats that feel vibrant and lived-in. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3858380/Space_Engineers__Apex_Survival_Pack/ - [Full Blog Post](https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/space-engineers-apex-survival-live-now/) - Guides: - [Survival Guide: Food](https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/new-players/survival-guide-food/) - [Survival Guide: Buffs](https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/new-players/survival-guide-buffs/) - [Survival Guide: Radiation](https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/new-players/survival-guide-radiation/) - [Survival Guide: Weather](https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/new-players/survival-guide-weather/) - [Modding Guide: Weather Effects](https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/modding-guides/modding-guide-weather-effects/) - [Modding Guide: Automatic Weather System](https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/modding-guides/modding-guide-automatic-weather-system/) - [Support Portal](https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers) We’re bringing you all the important gameplay changes for free in our Apex Survival Update. **You don’t need to start a brand-new world** to experience the new features (including the new Space encounters) – they can all be enabled on your old saves. Food is now a core survival mechanic in Apex Survival, enabled by default in all new survival worlds (and off by default in creative mode). A new food bar has been added to the HUD when enabled, giving you another vital resource to manage. Food consumption is customizable with a new world setting: - Disabled – Food system is off - Slow – 3 hours from full to empty - Moderate (Default) – 1.5 hours - Fast – 45 minutes Let your food bar run dry, and you’ll take damage until death. Drop below 20% food and you’ll face debuffs – losing 1% movement speed per missing percent, and eventually losing the ability to sprint entirely. ##### 🥕 Food Items & Ingredients Apex Survival introduces 9 new food items that act as ingredients for crafting **Meal Packs**. While many of these can be eaten raw in a pinch, their nutritional value is limited – combining them into prepared meals is the key to efficient survival. Planning your food supply and crafting recipes will give you a big advantage when living off the land. ##### 🌿 Foraging, Hunting, and Obtaining Food Items Food in Apex Survival comes from a variety of sources. **Algae** is your most basic and accessible food source, harvested using the **Algae Farm** block. It's not glamorous, but it gets the job done, making it ideal for early survival in any environment. Other ingredients can be found through foraging, hunting, and exploration: - New forageable bushes spawn across Pertam, Earthlike and Alien planets. Earthlike is the richest in vegetation, while Pertam is sparse and Alien is rich in edible mushrooms. - These can be harvested by hand or via Collector blocks, and they will respawn over time if cleanup conditions are met. - Wolves now drop Mammal Meat, and Sabiroids drop Insect Meat. - NPCs and Encounters may contain lootable food items, especially in kitchen areas. - Unknown Signals often hold seeds, and NPC Trade Stations _[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/244850/view/499453279763169525]_