| “ | Live together. Die alone. Official Tagline
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BLACKFROST: The Long Dark II is the sequel to The Long Dark. It is a first-person, open-world, survival game, RPG developed by Hinterland Studio Inc.
It is currently set to release in Early Access in 2026, after the completion of Episode 5: The Light At The End Of All Things for The Long Dark.
Blurb[]
"A year after the Aurora’s appearance & the world went dark, the people of Harmont & its vast wild environs struggle to survive the Quiet Apocalypse. Survive alone or with others against a host of new hazards & a fresh new survival sandbox from a pioneer of the genre. Live together. Die alone."
Hinterland Description[]
Today we share the first glimpse into the future of THE LONG DARK.
After 10 years of developing the first game, this is a big moment for the team. While we complete the final episode of our WINTERMUTE story mode slated for release in 2025, we wanted to use the platform of the The Game Awards as an opportunity to share our vision for the future of survival games.
We call it BLACKFROST, and it’s the sequel to THE LONG DARK.
Years ago, I asked myself what the future of THE LONG DARK could look like. Despite pouring everything we have into that game, I still felt there were things I wanted to do with the setting, the mechanics, but also things that just aren’t possible within the current game. I knew we would have to build something new, with foundations that could support our grand vision. When we started THE LONG DARK, we had no idea we’d be building it and supporting the community for 10 years. With BLACKFROST, we asked ourselves -- what if we *started* a project as though we knew it would last for 10 years, or even longer? What different decisions might we make?
BLACKFROST builds on a decade of construction, experimentation, and community-informed development of an experience we love dearly. It expands beyond the ego-centrism of THE LONG DARK and asks you, not how far you will go to survive, but how far will you go to survive for others?
The “others” could be other players in co-op, but also other survivors in the world. NPC communities hiding out from the dangers of the aurora, the radioactive “black frost”, and a whole host of new threats they experience in the city of Harmont and the vast wilderness surrounding it. What new scenarios, gameplay mechanics, and stories could such a setting inspire?
We aren’t saying too much more about BLACKFROST at this point, as we are focused on completing our obligations around THE LONG DARK 1. But we hope this early look is compelling and exciting for you. We hope to enlist you in the coming months and years, in helping us build the future of survival games.
BLACKFROST won’t launch until 2026, so this is a very early moment in time for the project. And for those of you who have grown up with THE LONG DARK over the years, BLACKFROST is not the end. It is only the beginning of the next chapter. We see both THE LONG DARK 1 and BLACKFROST co-existing for a long time, with each game having a distinct point of view around the ‘Quiet Apocalypse’. They will be complementary, preserving the investment of time and money you have put into TLD over the years.
But with BLACKFROST, we are pushing our philosophy and vision for survival forward in ways we could have never believed possible when we first launched TLD back in 2014. We can’t wait to show you more of what we are building. We hope you are as excited as we are!
For now, please take a moment in your busy day to enjoy this view into the new world we are creating for you. I think it is as beautiful as it is dangerous, full of adventure, mystery, and opportunity. A place you want to survive in.
Features[]
BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 is the sequel to the hit survival game, THE LONG DARK, launched on Early Access and honed over 10 years of open development. It is the evolution of the survival sandbox, refining every aspect of the original, and introducing co-op to the formula. Conceived of and developed by Hinterland, the same creative team that brought you the original.
The game will feature the return of various Wildlife and Tools already familiar to those who have visited Great Bear Island.
Brave New World[]
Experience the Quiet Apocalypse as survivors in the northern industrial city of Harmont and its vast environs. A year has passed since the Aurora first appeared in the sky, rendering all technology inert, with survivors just starting to emerge to face their new reality in its aftermath. Surrounded by a majestic, rugged wilderness, encounter the remnants of an isolated society still coming to terms with how the world has just been forever changed. How will you choose to survive?
Live Together. Die Alone[]
Survive as a lone wanderer in this frozen wasteland of city, town, forest, and farm, or huddle together as a group of survivors in whatever shelter you can make for yourselves. As solo players, decide how much you’ll learn to live with NPC survivor communities struggling to find their way in this harsh world. As co-op players, lean on each other and combine your skills and efforts to eke out another day of existence in the hostile environment. Alone or together, choose your own path to survival.
The Next-generation Survival RPG[]
Built on the foundation of survival gameplay pioneered and perfected by THE LONG DARK over 10+ years of development, BLACKFROST evolves every aspect of the survival formula to its 2.0 iteration, setting the table for the next generation of survival games. Build your own survivor, customize traits and skills, collect scars and stories, and experience a life as a survivor in this beautiful yet dangerous world. Many games have tried to bring survival mechanics to their open-world RPGs, but BLACKFROST is the first survival game built ground-up as a survival RPG.
Urban Survival[]
Experience the fantasy of wilderness survival at a 19th-century level of technology due to the aurora’s effects on the world and its inhabitants, and enjoy the same deep simulation of survival in nature from THE LONG DARK but with a new twist. Cities and towns offer new opportunities, and new hazards to your survival, introducing a fresh take on the established survival formula. The wilds are dangerous, but sometimes the city is where the real threats lie.
The Will to Live[]
Survival is as much about what’s in your head as what’s in your pack. With BLACKFROST, your success is no longer just about your physical Condition. BLACKFROST’s new Will to Live system adds elements of psychological survival to the mix, introducing Resilience and its sub-stats to the well-established mechanics. Manage your doubts and fears, and find comfort in the small things if you want to survive.
New Hazards[]
Urban risks. The deep freeze of an intense northern winter. Extreme weather events. Aurora Storms. And the dreaded radioactive Blackfrost, emitted by the reactor complex looming on the horizon. Layered on the dangers from wildlife and other survivors you encounter along the way, BLACKFROST introduces a whole host of new hazards to the survival sandbox.
Permalife[]
The innovative Permalife system turns every death into a new adventure. Accumulate new risks and fears for your survivor as you move through the world and succumb to various hazards. Face your fears, overcome their downsides, and strengthen your Survivor’s story in the world. Make your mark. (Classic Permadeath still an option!)
Early Access[]
BLACKFROST is being built using Early Access to maximize the player feedback loop and the team’s ability to iterate in a cycle of constant improvement. This builds on Hinterland’s longstanding reputation as a pioneer of the Early Access model with THE LONG DARK, being the first game to exist simultaneously on multiple early access platforms and on PC and console at the same time (Xbox Game Preview launch title in 2015). Similarly, BLACKFROST will be built a piece at a time, and will launch without the game’s complete planned world or feature set. We believe this is the ideal approach to work towards strength in community-informed iteration and development, but it’s not for everyone, so please make sure you are comfortable with this approach before you jump in! More details of how the team plans to handle roadmaps, timelines, and player feedback will be released closer to the 2026 launch.
Gameplay[]
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Concept[]
Announcement Trailer[]
External links[]
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