Hello.

The release of Quarantine was a new experience for the studio. We’ve made demos before (The Marble Nest for example) but we’ve never gathered feedback this systematically. Hundreds of thousands of players tried the prologue, and we got to hear their thoughts: via the Steam community, on social media, and of course, in the survey. Quarantine helped us test new mechanics that will appear in Pathologic 3 and draw some valuable conclusions.



Even Quarantine itself, which we don’t plan to update further, received rebalanced difficulty, QoL improvements, and several HUD variants after launch. But our main goal, of course, was to figure out what and how to calibrate in the main game.

Oh, and by the way, add Pathologic 3 to your wishlist! It’s the easiest way to stay updated on development news.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199650/Pathologic_3/


The medical detective gameplay (examining patients and diagnosing them) is clearly the highlight of the prologue. That’s obvious from both the feedback and the survey ratings. Good news: there will be a lot more of it in the main game! Of course, getting to know eccentric townsfolk and grappling with the existential drama of human boundaries won’t go anywhere, but you’ll also have to engage deeply with the tragedies and illnesses of ordinary people. We can’t even say “way more than before,” because, well, this mechanic simply didn’t exist before.

In the full game, these diagnostic stories will be more freeform than in the demo (where we were teaching the player, so mistakes were practically not allowed). We’re already experimenting with ways to make symptom logging (and therefore diagnosis) more convenient and engaging.

Our plans haven’t changed: we hope to include English, Russian, German, Simplified Chinese, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese at launch.

This is the first time a Pathologic game will launch with localization beyond Russian and English. The script had a lot of words, and writing quality matters deeply to us. That makes localization hard, but we’re committed to making the game more accessible for a broader audience. If we manage to expand it further, we’ll let you know!

The main question after Quarantine: what’s up with the city? Why couldn’t you move through it without loading screens? And how will that change in the full game?



…Why change a game where everything “worked”? Why not just write a new story in the same setting? We know some players would’ve liked that just fine. But for us that wouldn’t be enough. Not creatively (there’s already a game about digging through Gorkhon’s trash cans), and not commercially: sequels to indie games statistically sell much worse than the originals, and we’re making a sequel to a sequel. Just repeating ourselves? That’s a dead end.

But trying new things is in the studio’s DNA. And that led us to the idea of a new kind of game — about a person lost in time, with narrative structure and space-time torn to shreds. That presentation will stay. It’s a core part of the concept — it can’t be changed. (And technically, it can’t be reversed at this point.)

What will change in the full game, however, is the feel of the city. More specifically:

• Route choice — this already exists, but was limited in Quarantine. Navigating the city should always feel like a small puzzle for Dankovsky.
  
• Non-linearity — don’t forget, events will continue to occur simultaneously in different parts of the map. Even within one district, multiple things can happen — sometimes even conflicting ones.
  
• Location content and situations — a lot more, and far more varied. Quarantine was a parade alley: a glimpse at the game, not the game itself. Many features that will be in Pathologic 3 didn’t make it into Quarantine.
  
• City impact — the effects of your decrees will be visible. (Told everyone to wash their hands? They’ll be standing there, washing!) That’s also part of the city connection: issuing an order and seeing it come to life. It’s an important aspect of Dankovsky’s path.
  
• Immersion… well, let’s talk about that in more detail.

While the Haruspex sank into the flesh of the city, the Bachelor sinks into both the city and his own mind. We believe it’s possible to create a consistent sense of presence — even without consistency in time and space. You can doubt where and when you are, and still not lose the thread of your thoughts.

That sensation is our goal in Pathologic 3.

Even over a few Quarantine patches, we significantly improved performance. But the main round of optimization for the full game is still ahead. In other words — we’re planning for things to get much better.

Dankovsky’s mental state is a new mechanic. In short: we’ve seen that the overall concept works, but it’s not yet well-balanced (we’re working on it) or well-explained (we’ve improved it a bit with patches and HUD variants, and we’ll keep working on it). By release, we aim to fine-tune this “mental metabolism” so that it’s exactly as unnerving as we want: no more, no less.

Yes.

Originally, we planned to use Quarantine as the game’s intro. But we now believe we can make a smoother, prettier intro that introduces mechanics earlier. So most likely, some scenes from Quarantine will show up later in the game as flashbacks — but not at the beginning. As a complete experience, Quarantine will remain separate.

(Don’t worry — that means more Seraphima and Platon, more Inspector and Capital — not fewer!)

We’ll also give you a heads-up: the prologue’s store page will be taken down closer to the full game’s release.
Everyone who already added it to their library will still be able to play it — so make sure to grab this piece of the story while you can.

Quarantine turned out to be an interesting and very useful experiment — one we hope will help make the full version of Pathologic 3 even better. Thank you to everyone who took part.



From now on, we’re focusing on further development of the full game.
The prologue will remain available until… well, that’s not important. We’ll notify you when it’s about to go.

Don’t forget to wishlist and follow the main game’s page so you don’t miss any news about its development:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199650/Pathologic_3/

See you soon.

We’ll need a wider curtain for what comes next,
Ice-Pick Lodge

Hello, dear friends.

Today, we are thrilled to announce that Pathologic 3: Quarantine, the free prologue to the upcoming game, is now available.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3389330/Pathologic_3_Quarantine/

This is your first glimpse into Pathologic 3.

The Bachelor arrives to the Town-on-Gorkhon for the first time, discovering its secrets and inhabitants. Or does he?

The prologue offers a chance to explore the transformed world of the game, some of its new mechanics, characters, and locations.



Save a town from a mysterious plague.
Learn the stories of its unusual inhabitants.
Shape their lives with your decrees.
Diagnose patients. Face the Plague.
Connect the dots.
Find out who killed the immortal man.
Correct your mistakes in the past.
Welcome to Pathologic 3.

The first run begins,
Ice-Pick Lodge

Hello, friends! The clock is closer and closer to its final tock.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3389330/Pathologic_3_Quarantine/

For the most recent tick, enjoy the new trailer for Pathologic 3: Quarantine. Quarantine is the free prologue to Pathologic 3 that will be released on March 17.



Prepare to dive into the dark world of Pathologic 3 and uncover the story of a young doctor, the search for immortality, and a mysterious plague that changes everything.

Add Pathologic 3: Quarantine to your wishlist so you don’t miss the release!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3389330/Pathologic_3_Quarantine/

Hey,

The development of Pathologic 3 continues, and so does our conversation. Today, we’ll talk about a mechanic that is unique to Bachelor’s story — something you’ve never seen in the series before.

This devlog is available in both text and video formats.

WARNING! Strange as it may sound, a devlog about gameplay mechanics contains spoilers about gameplay mechanics. If you want to experience the game with a completely fresh perspective, consider skipping it.



Every game in the Pathologic series tells the story of a person in a plague-ridden town. If that person is Haruspex — a self-taught surgeon who relies on intuition, a scalpel, and his knowledge of the Steppe — you get Pathologic 2, a survival-focused game where a doctor literally plunges his hands into human flesh.

But if our protagonist is Daniil Dankovsky — a renowned medical scholar, an observer, an analyst, someone who only resorts to laboratory research in the most exceptional cases — then the story takes a different turn, and the gameplay must change accordingly.



That’s important to us: we strive to make both the visuals and the mechanics reflect the protagonist’s subjective perception of the world and fit their story. That’s why Pathologic 3 introduces a fundamentally new approach to gameplay.

Finding himself in a city ravaged by the Sand Plague, Daniil, as a true scientist, notices something strange. Some patients don’t die within five hours as they’re supposed to. Could it be that… the Sand Plague is weakened by other diseases? If that’s the case, then by studying infected patients and uncovering the cause of this anomaly, one could develop a vaccine. An imperfect, temporary solution… but what if it’s the first step towards salvation?

And so, from doctor and researcher, Dankovsky is forced to become a detective. You enter a hospital hastily set up in the town’s theater. Examine a patient’s medical file. Talk to them. Observe them. But something doesn’t add up. A misdiagnosis? Symptoms misinterpreted? Or… Are the patients simply lying?



Not every complaint should be taken at face value. A hand wound could be the result of a street fight, or it could be an early sign of ulceration. A patient may blame their headache on the flu, but you’ll notice symptoms of Steppe Fever. And when you come across darkened eyes, changes in pupil shape, and other anomalies, even common sense won’t be enough. You’ll need to learn to read symptoms and search for clues beyond hospital walls.

A patient’s neighbors, or a forgotten item left at home, might reveal what’s been happening to them in recent days, helping you make the right diagnosis, save a life, and get one step closer to a vaccine. Staying in the makeshift hospital won’t be enough — you’ll have to search for the truth.

Luckily, Dankovsky is a keen observer with a sharp analytical mind. He has always played the role of a detective in his battle against death. He has everything he needs to uncover the truth.



Of course, there’s a simpler approach: collect samples, use a microscope, and get a clear answer. You’ll see which organ groups are affected, this will be reflected in the patient’s file, and the mystery will become much easier to solve.



But… Where will you get the necessary reagents in a city ravaged by disease? Even if your research helps rule out several incorrect diagnoses… The reagents will be depleted, and the next patient might not be so lucky.

Every day, new patients will come to you. If you manage to save them all today, you’ll be one step closer to developing a vaccine for the Sand Plague. But the disease mutates, and a new vaccine is needed every day. If the city is to survive until the 12th day, you’ll have to work hard.



But… Put yourself in the shoes of an ordinary townsperson. Would you agree to be injected with an untested vaccine during an epidemic? And that’s assuming you even understand what a vaccine is — an uneducated factory worker might not. And if people are subjected to unexplained injections every day, they will start forming conspiracy theories and even riot.

Be careful when issuing city-wide mandates and enforcing quarantine measures. Frightened citizens won’t accept overly strict rules — if you push too hard, they will come for you and kill you before you can save the town. Unfortunately, a doctor from the Capital must fight not only the plague and death itself but also his own patients. Bachelor may risk his life to save them, yet still be seen as a tyrant, a tormentor, a madman.



Sometimes, exhausted Dankovsky closes his eyes and thinks: if only death could simply be killed. The locals believe the plague is brought by a Steppe golem — Shabnak, a monster from legend. If it were real, if he could shoot it with his fancy Capital-made Prototype gadget, he would take the risk, no matter how impossible it seemed. Anything would be better than fighting people who resist their own salvation…



In the following updates, we’ll talk about how to maintain the delicate balance of life in a dying town, and how to keep your own sanity intact. After all, what happens behind the microscope in the hospital is only the surface layer of Pathologic 3.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199650/Pathologic_3/

Bringing up the lights before we take the stage,
Ice-Pick Lodge

Hi everyone!
We’re finally ready to share a little mischief with you, called Pathologic 3: Quarantine.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3389330/Pathologic_3_Quarantine

Quarantine is a free prelude to Pathologic 3 that you’ll be able to experience before the main game’s release. It’s akin to a demo version, but not quite. Our longtime followers might recall The Marble Nest—a playable teaser released before Pathologic 2. Quarantine follows a similar format but with slightly different goals: unlike The Marble Nest, which was a completely separate story, it will showcase fragments of gameplay mechanics, set the stage for the story, and pull back the curtain a bit for those curious about the game’s world.


This free prologue ties directly into the main game and partially overlaps with its intro, but has several unique scenes as well. For the first time in the series, we will see the Capital — where Bachelor’s poor lab is located. (Telmann is a traitor.)

Stay tuned for more details about Quarantine coming next year! Don’t forget to follow us on social media to grab front-row seats. And please add Quarantine to your wishlists: a small step for you — but it means a lot to indie developers like us.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3389330/Pathologic_3_Quarantine
Building new sets for the upcoming play,
Ice-Pick Lodge

Hey friends!

Here's a video from our sound design team, put together for Save and Sound.

Consider this a controlled Pathologic 3 gameplay leak of sorts, with plenty of hints and mini-teasers. We won’t be explaining everything just yet, but stay tuned for more details in December. :)

Today, we want to dive into the atmosphere we’re building. Atmosphere is nothing without sound — Ressa, Vasily, Natalia, and Arthur will walk you through the sound elements that make up the game’s ambiance, how they’ve organized the sound production from a tech perspective, and how the sounds of Buenos Aires somehow snuck into the Town on the Gorkhon.



Thanks for tuning in. Be sure to wishlist Pathologic 3!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199650/Pathologic_3/?utm_source=devblog2

We know the wait has been long, and we want to thank you for the warm reception of the announcement. Today, we’d like to clarify a few points that we often see coming up in community discussions about the Pathologic 3 announcement.


Q: What happened to the route for Pathologic 2? Has it evolved into a sequel?
A: Yes, that’s exactly what happened: the game simply grew beyond our concept of DLC—it will have different gameplay and entirely new features. Instead of one game with three playthroughs using the same gameplay but different storylines (as in the original 2005 release and the Classic HD remaster), we’re creating three fully developed games with distinct gameplay and significant differences in narrative.

Now, these are truly three separate protagonists with unique worldviews, perceptions of reality, and distinct tools. From a gameplay perspective, this means three different approaches and a complete rethinking of the original scripts.

One storyline was released in 2019, centered on the Haruspex. It was a large game that took much more time and work than initially planned. For publishing reasons, it was titled Pathologic 2.

Pathologic 3 is a new, full-fledged game focused on the Bachelor. The title was chosen to avoid confusion, making it clear that this is not a DLC but a complete game with a similar playtime.

Q: What about the Changeling?
A: Finally, there’s the Changeling, but we’d prefer not to make promises prematurely, so we’ll return to her when there’s more to share.

Moving forward, we plan to stick to this approach. We understand that premature promises about the previous Pathologic led to unfulfilled expectations. We apologize for that and don’t want to mislead you in the future. The developer should not be an unreliable narrator—unlike his characters.

Q: How do Pathologic 2 and Pathologic 3 differ?
A: The protagonists! And that’s only half-joking. The main idea and reason for dividing these games is that the Haruspex and the Bachelor are very different characters. The further we developed the Bachelor’s story, the clearer this became. We didn’t want to compromise by making the game a “safer” rework of the original script, so we reimagined the core gameplay loop:

The Haruspex needed to survive, fight, scavenge, rummage through garbage for scraps of bread, and try to save those he held dear along the way.
The Bachelor is a man of intellect. Survival is not his primary concern; his goals go beyond what one lifetime could contain. He needs to think, formulate theories, and gather evidence. Ultimately, he must issue commands and observe the results. This distinction will be emphasized through gameplay, mechanics, objectives, soundtrack, and so on.

After Save and Sound, we plan to return later this year to show you what we mean. As they say, ""Show, don’t tell.""

Q: Who will receive game keys?
A: We remember our commitments to those who supported us during the fundraising stage nearly ten years ago, so we will provide keys to:

• Kickstarter backers and other platforms where support for the game was available during the fundraising stage
  
• Backers from 2014 and 2015

Also, backers entitled to two copies will receive two keys.
We’ll share details on how to claim keys closer to release.

Q: Will the new game have its own artbook?
A: At the moment, we’re not planning a physical one, but we might create a digital artbook for the Supporter Pack. We're not sure yet!

Q: Which languages will the game be localized into, including text and voice-over?
A: We definitely plan to localize into English and Russian, and we’re considering Brazilian Portuguese, German, and Simplified Chinese. We’ll confirm languages closer to launch.

Q: Will the Russian title of Pathologic 3 remain?
A: Yes, we’re still considering options. Current ideas include “Finally,” “See, You Didn’t Believe Us,” and “Sorry for the Long Wait.”

Q: Will the game be available on GOG and other stores?
A: We’ll know closer to release, but it’ll likely be available on all platforms where Pathologic 2 can be found.

Q: Will preorders be available?
A: No.

Q: What platforms other than PC are planned for release?
A: We’re planning releases for PS5 and Xbox S/X, likely following the PC release.

Q: What engine is the game being developed in?
A: The same engine as Pathologic 2: Unity.

Q: Will the same voice actors return for Pathologic 3?
A: Yes, we’ll bring back the same actors from Pathologic 2, or at least, we’ll do our best.

We’ve prepared a big surprise for you in the coming months, so please add Patholgic 3 to your Steam wishlist!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199650/Pathologic_3/

Dear friends,

We have some exciting news to share today. We are announcing the new Pathologic game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199650/Pathologic_3/

We’ve been quiet for a while, but we’ve seen all your memes and comments about the mythical Bachelor route. Now it’s time to conclude our creative exploration and let you rewrite Bachelor Dankovsky’s story.



Daniil Dankovsky is a man of science, a man with a plan, and a man from the Capital. No longer will the Bachelor of Medicine scavenge through trash bins for food or haggle for bullets. We’ve revamped the core gameplay and crafted a unique experience tailored exclusively for Bachelor Dankovsky.



We came up with a new game: The Town has transformed significantly, yet it remains recognizable. Instead of focusing on survival of the body—fighting fatigue, hunger, and infection—Dankovsky will fight parallel versions, timelines, his own crumbling psyche, and ultimately—the absurdity of this Town, trying to stop the disease with the "right" measures (though there are no right measures during an epidemic).

We’re aiming to release the third installment of the Pathologic series by the middle of next year.
Thank you for holding onto hope for all this time.
Thank you for your memes about waiting for the Bachelor.
And a special thanks to our backers (who will receive the game for free).

Bachelor Dankovsky, that's your cue.

Wir haben ausgezeichnete Nachrichten, Freunde!

Dank E1I1N1S1 wir haben jeztz die erste Version der deutchen Übersetzung von Pathologic 2. im Laufe der Zeit wird die Übersetzung weiter verbessert. Um alles zu beschleunigen, bitten wir sie die Modifikation zu testen.

Was euch erwartet:

"Alle Dialoge, Itembeschreibungen, die Karte und das Tagebuch (mehr als 99% des Spiels) sind übersetzt und implementiert, während Untertitel für gesprochene Dialoge sowie HUD und Menü zwar übersetzt sind, aber noch implementiert werden müssen."



Im Namen von Ice-Pick Lodge wollen wir E1I1N1S1 für seine Liebe zu der Stadt danken. Und besonders für das, dass er diese harte Arbeit allein gemacht hat. Das ist bewundernswert!

Hier können sie die Mod runterladen und die Installationsanweisung finden:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2361583701

Мешканці Міста-на-Горхоні! У ці складні часи, коли ми втрачаємо надію, а Місто чахне на очах від жахливої епідемії, так приємно отримувати гарні новини. Завдяки зусиллям Moder5ly відтепер Pathologic 2 доступний і українською мовою!

За чотири місяці Moder5ly переклав 28 тисяч стрічок тексту, що вміщує у собі близько 250 000 слів! Перекладено діалоги, меню, субтитри та навіть текстури. Неймовірна робота, непіднімна та недосяжна для однієї людини, але він із нею впорався! Ми просимо україномовних гравців ознайомитися з локалізацією та подякувати авторові на сторінці проєкту. Помітили помилку? Moder5ly буде радий вашому фідбеку!



Від імені Ice-Pick Lodge ми хочемо особисто подякувати авторові мода за його титанічну працю. Низький уклін, дорогий друже!

Детальніше про мод та про те, як його встановити, за посиланням:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2360146186