BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 Release Date, Early Access, Co-op and Everything We Know

The BLACKFROST release date is now set for 2027, when BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 launches in Early Access on Steam. Hinterland first announced the sequel at The Game Awards in December 2024 with a 2026 target, but the Steam page now lists 2027, and the studio has spent 2026 finishing The Long Dark's story and reshaping its plans. No exact day has been announced yet.

Here's everything Hinterland has officially confirmed about BLACKFROST so far: when it's coming out, why it moved to 2027, co-op, the new survival systems, platforms and the first gameplay reveal.

BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 at a glance

When is the BLACKFROST release date?

BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 is coming to Steam Early Access in 2027. That's the release window on its Steam store page. Hinterland hasn't given a month or day yet.

The timing lines up with what creative director Raphael van Lierop said in Hinterland's April 2025 developer diary: the plan was to launch BLACKFROST in Early Access "about a year after" The Long Dark's final story episode shipped. That episode, Episode Five: The Light at the End of All Things, launched on 31 March 2026, which points to the first half of 2027 at the earliest if that plan still holds. Treat that as a guide rather than a date until Hinterland confirms one. We'll update this article with the exact BLACKFROST release date as soon as it's announced.

Why was BLACKFROST delayed to 2027?

When Hinterland revealed the game in December 2024, it said BLACKFROST "won't launch until 2026". The store page has since moved the BLACKFROST release date to 2027. In its August 2026 developer diary on Steam, the studio explained how its thinking had changed since the announcement:

• The games industry has been in turmoil, with business models "thrown into chaos" and a complicated geopolitical situation.
• The picture of what the next generation of console hardware will be has become "a lot less clear".
• Players are spending less time and money on new games and returning to the games they already know.

Hinterland's answer is to lean harder on The Long Dark: fixing long-standing bugs and quality-of-life issues in Survival Mode, adding new DLC, and building BLACKFROST up gradually alongside. Because the studio is independent and self-funded, it says BLACKFROST's development is paid for by revenue from The Long Dark and its DLCs. Hinterland also says publishers and other funding partners have shown interest, but it wants to protect its independence above everything else.

Has BLACKFROST been cancelled or put on hold?

No. Hinterland addressed this directly in the August 2026 diary: it might sound as if BLACKFROST has been put on the back burner, "That's not the case." A dedicated team is still working on the game.

When is the BLACKFROST gameplay reveal?

Hinterland says the team is working towards the first BLACKFROST gameplay reveal, planned before the end of 2026. That reveal is meant to start a regular series of development updates about the game. Until then, the only official footage is the announcement trailer from The Game Awards. A gameplay reveal is often where studios share more on timing, so it's the next moment to watch for news on the BLACKFROST release date.

Image: Hinterland Studio

What is BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 about?

BLACKFROST is set during the "Quiet Apocalypse" that fans of The Long Dark know well. A year has passed since the Aurora first appeared in the sky and made all technology inert. Survivors are only now starting to emerge in the northern industrial city of Harmont and the rugged wilderness around it: city, town, forest and farm.

Because the Aurora wiped out modern technology, survival works at a roughly 19th-century level. Cities and towns bring new opportunities but also new dangers, and looming over everything is a reactor complex on the horizon that emits the radioactive Blackfrost the game is named after.

Hinterland describes the theme as a step on from the first game. Instead of asking how far you'll go to survive, BLACKFROST asks how far you'll go to survive for others, whether that's other players or the NPC survivor communities struggling to adapt to the new world.

Is BLACKFROST multiplayer? Co-op explained

Yes. BLACKFROST adds co-op, which is the biggest change from The Long Dark. You can survive as a lone wanderer or team up with friends in online co-op, combining your skills to get through another day. The Steam page lists single-player, multiplayer, co-op and online co-op.

The tagline sums it up: "Live together. Die alone." Hinterland hasn't announced a maximum co-op player count yet.

What's new in BLACKFROST?

Hinterland calls BLACKFROST "the first survival game built ground-up as a survival RPG", evolving The Long Dark's systems to a "2.0" version. The confirmed features are:

• Build your own survivor: customise traits and skills, and collect scars and stories as you go.
• Will to Live: a new psychological survival system. Alongside your physical Condition you now manage Resilience and its sub-stats, handling doubts and fears and finding comfort in small things.
• Urban survival: cities and towns are a major new layer on top of The Long Dark's wilderness survival.
• New hazards: urban risks, the deep freeze of a northern winter, extreme weather events, Aurora Storms and radioactive Blackfrost, on top of wildlife and other survivors.
• NPC survivor communities: as a solo player, you decide how much you'll live alongside groups trying to find their way in the new world.
• Permalife: death becomes a new chapter rather than the end. Your survivor carries new risks and fears forward, and overcoming them strengthens your story. Classic permadeath is still an option.

How will BLACKFROST Early Access work?

Hinterland is building BLACKFROST in Early Access "a piece at a time", the same way it developed The Long Dark (which was one of the first games to be in early access on several platforms at once, including as an Xbox Game Preview launch title in 2015). The studio is clear that BLACKFROST will launch without its complete planned world or feature set, and it asks players to be comfortable with that before buying in. Hinterland says it will share details of its roadmap, timelines and how it will handle feedback closer to launch.

Watch the BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 trailer

The announcement trailer debuted at The Game Awards 2024, with music by Agnes Obel. It's still the only official footage; the first proper gameplay is due before the end of 2026.

Is BLACKFROST coming to PS5 and Xbox?

Not yet confirmed. The only platform announced is PC via Steam, and Hinterland's own BLACKFROST page links to Steam alone. The Long Dark did launch on consoles, and Hinterland mentioned that uncertainty over next-generation console hardware is part of its planning, so console versions aren't ruled out. We'll update this article if they're announced.

BLACKFROST system requirements

Hinterland hasn't published full PC specs yet. The Steam page currently lists only:

How much will BLACKFROST cost?

The price hasn't been announced. Hinterland hasn't said whether owners of The Long Dark will get anything in BLACKFROST either.

Does BLACKFROST replace The Long Dark?

No. Hinterland says both games will co-exist "for a long time", each with its own view of the Quiet Apocalypse. With the WINTERMUTE story now complete, The Long Dark's Survival Mode will keep getting fixes, quality-of-life updates and new DLC, and the studio expects players to move between the two games. If you want to support BLACKFROST, Hinterland's own advice is to wishlist it on Steam.

More survival games on iGame Magazine

• ARDEM release date – another survival game whose Early Access moved to 2027
• Permafrost guide – frozen co-op survival you can play right now
• The best survival games on PC – what to play while you wait

BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 FAQ