When Frostpunk was released in 2018, it found a niche aching for new games and capitalized on it in a unique way. City-builders may not be as ubiquitous a genre as the early 2000s, but a survival style of city-builder offered an exciting new take on a classic idea. Frostpunk captured that, received impressive reviews, sold over three million copies, and has even been ported to consoles and mobile devices. It should be no surprise then that 11 Bit Studios announced Thursday morning that it was working on Frostpunk 2.
Coinciding with the announcement of Frostpunk 2 was the release of a cinematic announcement trailer. The short CG video features an authoritarian voice speaking over a loudspeaker sharing propaganda regarding doing what’s necessary for survival. The video itself shows nearly ten oil jacks in a snowy, barren flat. None of them are pumping, with the area seemingly abandoned. It zooms in on spilled blood and then spilled oil, as it finally shows a shirtless man with his hands bound left to freeze to death. “LIAR” is written on his chest.
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The trailer captures the brutality of the Frostpunk experience. The man is perhaps representative of what will happen to the player if they fail in their task to provide heat, food, and survival amid the frozen apocalypse. It may be the player if they succeed, too, if they don’t do it the right way. Such is life in Frostpunk.
Since the release of Frostpunk, 11 Bit Studios has grown to a team of nearly 70 employees, though Frostpunk 2 is just one of three projects in development. Frostpunk 2 co-director Jakub Stokalski says that this has allowed the team to increase the scale of all aspects of the game, from production value to game scope. As such, Stokalski says 11 Bit wants Frostpunk 2 to be more than just a sequel. He says the team’s ambition is to deliver a game that “goes vastly beyond that of the original Frostpunk.”
For the time being, 11 Bit is withholding much of its more specific plans for Frostpunk 2. The game has no listed new features outside of a new focus on oil extraction. No release window has been provided, either. As for platforms, it seems like Frostpunk 2 will be coming to PC first, via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.
To help build some excitement for Frostpunk 2 and hopefully draw in some new players, 11 Bit is making the original game temporarily free to play on Steam from now through August 16 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET. Expect to hear more about Frostpunk 2‘s development later in 2021.
Frostpunk 2 is currently in development for PC.
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