Frostpunk 2

With more than two million wishlists, Frostpunk 2 from 11 bit studios is the third most-wanted game on Steam. The sequel to the survival city builder released in 2018 will surpass its predecessor in almost every discipline, especially in terms of scale, and of course there will once again be difficult moral choices to be made, as "The Cities Must Survive" - this time in the plural.

Although 11 bit studios is best known for the anti-war game This War of Mine, which has now sold over nine million copies, Frostpunk is another of the company's popular franchises. Here, too, serious themes, moral choices and gameplay challenges are interwoven - with success, as the first instalment of the survival city builder sold over five million copies in six years. While the first game focused on the survival of one city, this time the scale is much bigger and the politics more interesting. Instead of constructing individual buildings, players now build entire districts and manage the relationships between them. This offers strategic advantages that require more detailed planning. Of course, there are more people living there, and they have different attitudes and form factions. They often have very opposing interests, causing political unrest which the player must resolve. Whether players support or oppose their causes, they shape not only the economy and architecture, but also the intellectual direction of their city.

This is where The Council Hall comes in, as a new place where decisions are made that often involve a difficult choice and seem like a case of choosing between two evils. For example, should you support the use of automatons in industry, or what about child labour? It is a shift from totalitarian rule to a more nuanced decision-making process. Proposing and voting on laws requires patience or subtle manoeuvring. Failure could lead to a civil war and the downfall of the city. And then there are new technologies to Discover too.

But it's not just about the one city, or just about exploring Frostland, as the frozen world is now divided into territories, with the most difficult areas reserved for veteran scouts. It will be possible to build outposts or entire colonies in the frozen wastes, with their own economies and logistics, connected by railways to ensure a steady flow of resources. Players must move some of their population from the main city to the new city. "While New London retains control—there are no independent delegates and votings in the colonies—each outpost requires careful management. If managed well, these colonies can become vital hubs, specialising in food production or oil extraction," said game directors Lukasz Juszczyk and Jakub Stokalski. Of course, they also stress that Frostpunk 2 is a difficult game and that failure is part of the game, just like in the first game.

Frostpunk 2 has not only grown in size, but also in scope. The story mode includes five chapters and a prologue. There is also an endless mode called Utopia Builder, which is included from the start this time. Also included are modding tools developed in collaboration with mod.io. The FrostKit allows players to create their own maps, models and scenarios within the game. The latter was only possible after the in-house engine was replaced with Unreal Engine 5.

In fact, Frostpunk 2 was supposed to be released in July 2024, but the user feedback after the beta test was not good enough for the Polish studio. "Based on the surveys we received after playing Beta, the average rating you gave us was 8 out of 10. We're super grateful for that! At the same time, it was only a small slice of a work-in-progress, still-growing game. While our backlog is plentiful, it was an opportunity for us to listen to what you enjoyed, and what didn’t quite land yet," Design Director Jakub Stokalski and Art Director Lukasz Juszczyk said. "This allowed us to prioritise things better, and bring upfront the features and modifications we were already working on. But we also realised that to guarantee the best possible experience on launch, we need more time to finish the development of Frostpunk 2. That's why we made the difficult decision to postpone its release to September 20th, 2024."

"We are committed to delivering titles of the highest technical quality, offering players truly world-class entertainment. That's why Frostpunk 2 and The Alters have undergone extensive testing and quality assurance for several months, involving both our internal QA teams and external testers." - Przemysław Marszał, President of the Management Board of 11 bit studios

Frostpunk 2 launches on PC on 20 September, with Advance Access available from 17 September for those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition. The game will also be available on PC Game Pass on Day One, with a console release to follow later. The Digital Deluxe Edition will include access to three yet-to-be-announced DLCs, an in-game item and other exclusive extras. In addition, 11 bit studios will be releasing another promising game this year: The Alters. In this sci-fi game that combines adventure, survival and base building, protagonist Jan Dolski creates alternate versions of himself, each with a different vita, in order to escape a deadly planet.

11 bit studios expects strong sales for Frostpunk 2 and The Alters, supported by third-party sales (indie publishing) and the future release of Project 8 (codename). Frostpunk 2 is currently the third most anticipated launch on Steam, just behind Hollow Knight: Silksong and Monster Hunter Wilds, based on the number of wishlists. At the end of April 2024, Frostpunk 2 was on more than two million wishlists on Steam.

Conclusion

Frostpunk 2 builds on the foundation of its predecessor, but is bigger, more complex and multi-layered in almost every way. This is a surefire hit for 11 bit studios.

Features

• Sophisticated sequel to the million-selling game with a much larger scale
• Complex and challenging gameplay with many difficult decisions to make
• World-class visuals, art and sound design

Hit potential

AA