In case you haven’t stayed on top of the smorgasbord of new trailers released as part of The Game Awards 2024’s opening ceremony,The Long Dark 2was one of the fancy new announcements. Great news, right? Thing is,The Long Darkremains unfinished, a decade after its release.
The situation withThe Long Darkand its developer, Hinterland, is admittedly complex, but the gist of it really isn’t. Originally announced using Kickstarter back in 2014, as was the fashion at the time,The Long Dark‘s key promise at the time was that it would deliver a comprehensive episodic campaign known as Wintermute.
Then, the game was released with a stronger sandbox/survival slant, which led to a massive pivot towards developing those bits and bobs instead of focusing on Wintermute proper. Now, with 2025 knocking on the door, the final chapter of Wintermute is yet to be released, andBlackfrost – The Long Dark 2has already been announced.
Blackfrost – The Long Dark 2 is a promising new title, but will it repeat the mistakes of its predecessor?
Blackfrost – The Long Dark 2is due to release via Steam Early Access (that’s right) sometimein 2026. This does give Hinterland plenty of time to deliver Wintermute’s final chapter in the interim, but the fact remains that Episode 5 won’t be out until 2025. This doesn’t mesh well with the notion of announcing a whole new sequel while the original title is yet to be finished.
In a practical sense,The Long Darkhas been “finished” for quite some time now. The game’s focus on sandbox gameplay has been apparent for a long while, and itsTales from the Far Territoryexpansion pass drives the majority of the gameplay for long-time players.
To be clear,Blackfrostlooks very interesting. It introduces a new game engine, mounts, extensive urban environments, plenty of new mechanics, and co-op multiplayer to The Long Dark’s emblematic and grounded survival gameplay. That alone is worth getting excited about. Yet, it’s hard to forget all the missteps Hinterland has made over the years.
The decision to leave Wintermute on the backburner is one of them, for sure, butThe Long Dark‘s game directorrecently had a fairly questionable take aboutManor Lords, an extremely successful small-scale indie production. Back in 2020, the studio alsorequested Nvidia to takeThe Long Darkoff GeForce Now. “Nvidia didn’t ask for our permission to put the game on the platform so we asked them to remove it. Please take your complaints to them, not us. Devs should control where their games exist,” said van Lierop,The Long Dark‘s game director.
There’s a history of troubled development and questionable takes that can be attributed to Hinterland at large, and though I very much enjoyThe Long Darkas it currently stands, I am worried about its sequel. So far, though,Blackfrostlooks great, and I hope it builds upon the success of its predecessor in a meaningful and sensible way. Hopefully, it won’t take almost a decade for its campaign and story mode to conclude.
