Hello Community,

We have just released our Survival v2.44 (157357) and WINTERMUTE v2.14 (157355) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.

DISAPPEARING TRAVOIS

We've been able to identify some cases that would cause the Travois to disappear after transitioning to and from a scene, and addressed the cause. This means that we expect this problem to become drastically less common; however, we cannot be sure that we’ve completely resolved this. As such, we encourage players to reach out to our Support Portal if this issue persists for you. We greatly appreciate videos and descriptions of consistent, repeatable steps that would reproduce any issue you’ve encountered. The team is continuing to work to resolve the root cause of the disappearing Travois issue, and we will include further fixes in future hotfixes as they become available.

Known Issues

The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal. 

• There are edge-cases where Safehouse Decorations can disappear from an interior, container, or the player’s inventory. Items lost this way should now appear in Lost and Found boxes.

• Players with Texture Resolution lower than “Full” and Terrain Blending “Enabled” may see black outlines along certain terrain features. This can be resolved by ensuring that Texture Resolution is set to “Full” when utilizing the Terrain Blending Advanced Visual Option.

Bug Fixes

This Minor Update includes fixes for the following issues:

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

• Fixed a subset of cases that could result in the Travois despawning and being placed in a nearby Lost and Found Box.

• Fixed an issue at Trapper's Cabin where items could become lost under the snow due to the recently adjusted terrain.

• Fixed an issue where the "Framerate Cap" slider would not remain at the desired setting, nor obey the value set.

• Fixed an issue that resulted in quartered animal bags disappearing after Harvesting a portion of meat from them.

• Fixed an issue in WINTERMUTE Episodes Three and Four that resulted in mistimed subtitles during the recap videos.

• Fixed an issue that prevented WINTERMUTE saves from being renamed.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass that resulted in some areas displaying noticeably darkened sections with "Additional Shadows - Structures" enabled.

• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass cave transition that resulted in noticeably darkened sections and incorrect terrain blending with "Additional Shadows - Structures" and "Terrain Blending" enabled.

• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass that resulted in the interior of buildings being noticeably darker than expected with "Additional Shadows - Structures" enabled.

• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination that resulted in the interior of buildings being noticeably darker than expected with "Additional Shadows - Structures" enabled.

• Fixed an issue where powerline cables and lights would not cast shadows.

• Fixed an issue that caused some snow patches to shift when viewed from particular distances or angles.

• Fixed an issue on Mac where "Motion Blur" caused extremely blurred visuals during harvesting.

• Fixed an issue where some "Ambient Effects" such as blowing snow would remain active when this option was disabled.

• Fixed an issue in Blackrock Prison that resulted in some buildings failing to cast shadows with "Additional Shadows" enabled.

• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet that resulted in the ocean water popping in and out based on the angle it was viewed at.

• Fixed an issue where some rail cars would exhibit "Terrain Blending" when there was no snow beneath.

• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Survivor having invisible arms when wearing the Festive Sweater.

• Fixed an issue with the Lost and Found Box near the tunnel to Forlorn Muskeg in Broken Railroad that resulted in it remaining invisible unless very close to its location.

Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. 

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

Hello Community,

We have just released our v2.43 (156485) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This addresses one major issue.


GENERAL

*Fixed an issue that caused items and structures to appear invisible, or partially visible.



Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game.


### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

Hello players,

We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.42, build 156298 and WINTERMUTE to version 2.13, build 156040.

This is a free update available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION, and includes visual enhancement options targeted at high-end systems, various bug fixes, and tuning changes.

For a description of the Visual Enhancements, please watch the latest Update Video:







We have added a collection of visual enhancements targeting high-end systems, including Coloured Shadows, Terrain Blending, Improved Anti-Aliasing, and other features mentioned above. Keep in mind these are all optional features, to be enabled in the Display and Advanced Settings, and can be turned on or off depending on your preferences.

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM SPEC

If you would like to enable all visual enhancements and run at a target of 60FPS at 2560 x 1440 resolution, we recommend a PC using an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU or equivalent, 3GHz or faster CPU, and 32GB of system RAM.

Unfortunately, with so many different PC hardware combinations available, it’s impossible for us to guarantee your specific hardware combination will work. However, we believe these general hardware recommendations will result in a very consistent, graphically maximized experience.

Please remember that these features are targeted at higher-end hardware, and we can offer no guarantees regarding performance on your specific combination of PC hardware.



Earlier this year, we updated the game to address a longstanding exploit around the use of Ruined food items in Cooking recipes. Our implementation was not very robust and introduced other issues.

Fixing this issue correctly will involve overhauling various game systems related to food, Condition decay, how wildlife respond to raw meat, and risks involved with consuming low-Condition food items. These changes are likely to change various aspects of the game, including long-running strategies players have employed for years. As the team is focused on finishing Episode Five, we are postponing making these broader changes until the Episode is shipped.

Until then, we have reverted back to the previous behaviour -- which allowed Ruined food items to be used in Recipes -- and we will revisit these systems post-Episode Five and provide longer-term fixes for them.



We also heard the feedback that many players with very long-running games ran into the issue of being locked out of some of the higher-end Recipes (in the Frontier Cooking system) due to key items like Canned Peaches having decayed in the world by the time you unlocked this system.

To help address that, until we can make the bigger aforementioned changes, we have temporarily returned the Condition loss for several Canned items, making them last longer. We have also modified some of the Trader’s costs to balance against the availability of some of these key items (including Canned Peaches, Carrots, and Potatoes). These changes should make it more viable for you to benefit from some of these advanced Recipes in your long-running saves.


We are addressing multiple issues with the Travois, where it can rarely fall under specific locations in the game world. In the short-term, if you lose your Travois, you should be able to find it -- along with any items in it -- stored in the Lost & Found box in the Region you are in. We continue to monitor this issue and will make additional fixes as we get more information from players who have encountered this problem.

There was a related issue where rarely, a Lost & Found box was itself hidden under the terrain or unreachable. We have fixed this issue as well.


Many players had encountered an issue where they were blocked from completing Sutherland’s final quest, and were unable to complete the questline. While this didn’t block progression with the Trading system in general, it is still frustrating. We have fixed this issue, and it should now be possible to complete Sutherland’s quest (specifically, Special Request #5).



The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal.

• There are edge-cases where Safehouse Decorations can disappear from an interior, container, or the player’s inventory. Items lost this way should now appear in Lost and Found boxes.
  
• Players with Texture Resolution lower than “Full” and Terrain Blending “Enabled” may see black outlines along certain terrain features. This can be resolved by ensuring that Texture Resolution is set to “Full” when utilizing the Terrain Blending Advanced Visual Option.
  
• Mac players with Motion Blur set to “High” will find Carcasses become extremely blurred during Harvesting. Setting Motion Blur to Low will reduce this effect until a fix is applied.
  
• Rarely, the Survival home menu will load with missing items and assets. Changing any visual setting will resolve this issue.

This Major Update includes fixes for the following issues:


GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

• Re-enabled (temporarily) the use of Ruined ingredients in Crafting and Cooking Recipes.
  
• Tuned several Canned food items to last much longer in the world.
  
• Tuned raw and cooked Meat types to last much longer in the world.
  
• Adjusted Tales From the Far Territory cooked fish to bring their decay rates in line with non-DLC cooked fish.
  
• Tuned Canned Dog Food, Condensed Milk, and Tomato Soup to bring outdoor decay rates into line with other canned items.
  
• Added Canned Peaches, Carrots, and Potatoes to Trader Requests. It is now possible to obtain these food types via the Trading system.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Trader's fifth Special Request becoming impossible to complete.
  
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet where the Lost and Found box in that Region was too close to a cave transition volume, resulting in it being impossible to interact and open.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Lost and Found box in Keeper's Pass being inaccessible beneath terrain. The Lost and Found box is now located in front of the abandoned trailer on the road to Blackrock.
  
• Fixed an issue in Carter Hydroelectric Dam resulting in placed items being able to intersect chain-link fencing.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Fixed an issue in Blackrock Prison which caused large sections of the prison buildings to disappear when viewed from specific locations and angles.
  
• Fixed an issue in Blackrock where Rosehip bushes could be found floating above ground.

We're trying an experiment on deep discounting with Valve, so for the next 4 days THE LONG DARK will be discounted at 90% off. This is a great opportunity to buy a gift for a friend, or to share a link to the Steam page with someone you think might enjoy what the game has to offer.

If you're curious about the free Visual Enhancements or plans for Episode Five this year, make sure you read this Dev Diary and review the Visual Enhancements video. Buying THE LONG DARK on Deep Discount is also a great time to pick up the TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY DLC. If you want to know more about what's in the TALES DLC, you can check out the recap video here.

As always, thank you for your support. Spreading the word, writing a positive review, or wishlisting our next game (BLACKFROST), all support our studio and ensure our ongoing independence.

- The Hinterland Team

Dear players,

It’s been a busy few months since we wrapped up the final part of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY in December, and shipped the final parts on Switch in March. We’ve been working on a variety of things in the studio, so I wanted to update you on some of those things and address a few outstanding topics that I know are on your mind.




Episode work is ongoing. I know you are all wanting more specific updates, but we’re really trying to avoid spoilers so we won’t be sharing much in detail about the episode until the first teaser. I will say that the episode is the most ambitious we’ve built so far, and it has quite a few systems we haven’t used in other episodes, so it’s proving to be quite challenging for the team. We also feel the weight of anticipation and need to ensure we ship something of the highest quality. We know many of you -- like us -- have been waiting for years for this story to be completed. And once it’s done, we can never go back. So that’s really on our minds. The episode can’t just be good; it has to be great.



To clarify the episode’s scope for you: Episode Five has between two to three times as much cinematic and story content as Episode Four, which is our largest episode to date. The game world you’ll be playing in is about three to four times as big as Episode Four. There are a lot of story threads to tie up across all the episodes, to wrap up the Wintermute storyline, but also to set the stage for the future of THE LONG DARK, so we have to take you to several different places and hear from a lot of new people. Because of what the story needs, we’ve focused on narrative more than we have traditionally, and the mission flow for Episode Five is probably more linear than previous episodes as a result. The episode will take you through many new locations -- everything in the episode is new to the game and the world, so these will all be places you’ve never seen before -- and this final episode of the story has you playing as both Mackenzie and Astrid, and you’ll also be seeing some of the key characters from previous episodes, so...there’s a lot! We’re also using new motion-capture tech for our team, to attempt to deliver an ever higher bar for story delivery than we have achieved so far. These are all things that exist outside the context of Survival Mode, although some of the work in TALES helped set the foundation of some of the things we’re attempting in Episode Five. I can confidently say that Episode Five will be the most ambitious thing we’ve done on THE LONG DARK at Hinterland to date. I know that won’t mean much to you until you have it in your hands, but hopefully that gives you some sense of the ambition behind the episode.



The majority of the development team at Hinterland is working on Episode Five, with a smaller team working on BLACKFROST, so you can be sure that this is our primary focus, and will be until we ship it. In order to ensure the team has enough time and focus to finish the episode to our highest standard, I’ve asked them to work on it through the remainder of the year, with a plan to launch towards the end of the year. We’re also pushing out other planned Survival Mode updates (see below) to ensure the team can focus all their efforts on Episode Five at this point, as we know how critical it is that we wrap this up and deliver a strong finale for the story. That’s what we’re focused on, so if we are heads-down and you hear less from us than usual, this is partly why. We are just very, very busy.


For any of you who missed the news or have been holding off for the Expansion Pass to be complete, here’s a reminder that all parts of the DLC are now complete and available on all platforms.

While TALES ended up taking much longer than expected to complete, we’re happy with how much we were able to add to the game. We also believe this is tremendous value for money. To showcase all the additional content and mechanics, we made a recap video:



If you want to support our studio and our work, we hope you’ll consider buying TALES. And if you aren’t in a position to buy it now, keep an eye on the various sales on Steam and the consoles and grab it when discounted! We also added quite a few free updates to the base game along with TALES, so you already have many of those even if you didn’t buy TALES, including Safehouse Customization, which players are really enjoying!


We’re excited to announce that these are finished! The Visual Enhancements builds are with the Test team so they can validate everything is working well. Our plan is to release them in a staggered pattern, starting with PC first, then the consoles.

The team created a video to help showcase the enhancements. Check it out!



Here’s a list of all the Enhancements and which platforms you can find them on.



Keep in mind that, by nature, most of the enhancements are targeted at high-end systems, so they will mainly apply to high-end PCs or the top-end consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S or X).

Our plan is to get the Visual Enhancements out to Steam and Epic Game Store by the end of May, with the console versions following in June.


With the visual enhancements for high-end systems now complete, we’ve taken this opportunity to properly bring THE LONG DARK to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X systems. You should be getting these updates by mid to late June, platform certification timings allowing. These versions of the game will come upgraded with the visual enhancements, so this is the way to enjoy those enhancements if you play THE LONG DARK on PlayStation or Xbox. Keep in mind that you will need to own one of the Generation 9 consoles (PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S or X) to play the enhanced version of THE LONG DARK. But don’t worry, you can continue to play the existing unenhanced version on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One if you don’t have the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S or Series X.

There will be some additional information around how to migrate existing saves from the last-gen (Xbox One, PS4) to the current gen (Xbox Series, PS5), which we’ll share closer to release.

If you currently own THE LONG DARK and are playing it on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S/X, you will automatically be upgraded to the Enhanced version (on Xbox Series S or Series X) or optionally install the Enhanced version (PlayStation 5) when it goes live. No additional purchase is necessary.


We recently made a change to the game that prevents Ruined food items from being used as ingredients in Cooking. This was an intentional change, as using Ruined items went against the philosophy of the system in general (you can’t generally use Ruined clothing or gear items, so why food?), but we recognize that this introduced some issue for people who were locked out of certain recipes because in long-running Survival games, some ingredients might already have been ruined by the time you found them, with no really viable way to replace them.

We’ll be releasing a hotfix that addresses part of this issue, by rebalancing some of the Condition decay rates on specific food items -- in particular, canned goods, and fresh meat or fish. This will buy players more time to process harvested food (from hunting and fishing) to ensure it has longevity, but without rewarding hoarding tons of fish or meat that you can’t realistically process or store. You’ll need to plan your hunting and fishing activities accordingly. With things like Salt added to the game, you now have new options for preserving meat and fish long-term.

We’ve also added some rare food items required for some of the more complex recipes (ex. Canned Peaches) as Trade Items with Sutherland, so they will now be available through the Trading system. We also tuned some of the costs to make them a bit more accessible, and worthwhile for you. So even if you end up in a game where most of a certain type of ingredient no longer exists in your game, you should be able to trade with Sutherland to get it.

These fixes will be added to the same update that adds the Visual Enhancements to your game, so if you’re playing on PC (Steam, Epic Game Store, etc.), you should see these changes later in May, and they should come to console in June.


Some of our Switch players have encountered game crashes since we released Parts Five and Six of TALES back in February. The dev team was able to isolate the issue to a memory-related crash when playing in Docked mode. To fix it, we introduced some dynamic resolution scaling for certain regions, but only in Docked mode. This fix should not impact Handheld play, and even for Docked the impact should not be visible. It’s a solution we’ve used for other very large regions in the base Survival game, like Pleasant Valley, so if you’ve been playing docked Switch in the base game regions so far and been happy with how the game looks and performs, you should still be happy after this change. This Switch-specific fix has been approved by Nintendo and we’re expecting to launch it on Monday, April 28th.


We had planned to release a Quality of Life update with new content for the Trader and Safehouse customization, as well as some gameplay balance tuning, bug fixes, etc., before we shipped Episode Five, but the team felt stretched too thin between this work and completing Episode Five, so I’ve decided to push this update off until after Episode Five ships.


The team has done some work towards these features but, as with the QoL update, it was splitting focus and resources too much and with Episode Five needing to ship this year, I’ve pushed Mod Support and Enhanced Custom Settings off until after Episode Five ships.


That’s a great question! Shipping Episode Five will be a big inflection point for THE LONG DARK. It’s been years in the making, and in most ways, the completion of the WINTERMUTE Story Mode represents “the end” of THE LONG DARK.

I’m writing “the end” in quotes because we still intend to continue updating the game, but completing story mode has been a point of accountability for Hinterland all these years. With the story mode finished, we are looking forward to having some breathing room to figure out next steps and continue to do our work without the weight of a big promise hanging over us.

So, for a little while at least, we’re going to think about shipping Episode Five and finishing Wintermute as THE END. We’ll have delivered on our promises, lived up to our obligations, and hopefully you’ll be happy with the results and feel they were worth the wait.

Beyond that, we have to make some choices about what to do with the game, and we’ll be interested to hear your thoughts about what you’d like to see. I’ll probably share a community survey around this before the end of the year, along the lines of the one we did before we committed to building TALES. This survey will give you a chance to influence the future of THE LONG DARK.

As mentioned, there will definitely be -- at least -- one more QoL update, improved custom settings, mod support, and we’ve also promised Hunted Part III. Beyond that, we have many ideas of how we could keep supporting and expanding THE LONG DARK into the future, but we don’t want to do that without consulting with you and figuring out what you’d like to see and how you would like to continue supporting the game. It costs a lot of money to run a studio like Hinterland, and we’ve invested a lot in THE LONG DARK and the sequel, BLACKFROST, over the years, so our focus will be on how to continue building games and supporting them for years to come, in a financially sustainable way that is safe and fair for our team. And all this against a backdrop of ongoing industry turmoil that have seen a lot of our friends and fellow independent studios shut down over the last couple of years, not to mention the dark economic clouds on the global horizon.

We wouldn’t want to move ahead without you being part of this journey, so we want to hear what you’d like to see more of, whether it’s more regions, more mechanics, more story (?). The survey will include all kinds of questions around this. What’s exciting is that there are many paths we can take, including really ambitious stuff and more modest but sustainable stuff, and we really want to find a healthy way to continue supporting THE LONG DARK and keep you playing in this world for years to come. Along with some of our other work, which brings me to my next topic...


I imagine many of you noticed the launch announcement for BLACKFROST: The Long Dark 2 at The Game Awards in December. There was a lot of excitement about this from many of you, as well as some understandable questions about “but how can you announce a sequel before the current game is finished?”. I thought it might be helpful to talk about why we did this.



Larger companies with multiple revenue streams, or publisher-backed (or owned) studios who don’t have to pay their own bills, can afford to have extensive downtime -- often years -- between projects. Those years are spent working on new things, in anticipation of launching them in the future. During those periods, the studios are being paid out of development funds provided by the publisher, or investment, or payroll from a parent company, but most often the studios aren’t generating meaningful revenue during this time.

Hinterland is an independent studio, and our annual costs are covered out of revenue from THE LONG DARK and DLC like TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. It wouldn’t be feasible for us to “go dark” for 2-3 years in between finishing up THE LONG DARK and launching the sequel, because we generate revenue from sales of the game to new players, and that’s what keeps our studio going. Also, since we only charge once for the things we make and don’t have extensive DLC or other ongoing revenue streams, we’d simply go out of business if we didn’t release something within a reasonable distance of wrapping up THE LONG DARK. So, we need to build up new projects at the same time as we continue shipping and supporting our existing game.

Another factor is that it’s a lot harder to bring an audience to a sequel if you’ve lost them along the way. Our hope by continuing to update THE LONG DARK at the same time as we’re building BLACKFROST, is to show that your time commitment to the first game has not been in vain -- you can still play it and enjoy it well into the future as we build up BLACKFROST. And after BLACKFROST ships in Early Access, in between updates there, you’ll be able to bounce back to THE LONG DARK to continue experiencing the Quiet Apocalypse. This way, you can keep playing in this larger world we’re building for you, and you can continue investing your time knowing the game will always be there for you. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. And then over time, gradually, we’ll put a larger proportion of our time and resources into building up BLACKFROST, as it will also need the same focus and dedication behind it that THE LONG DARK has had for over 10 years. But see both games supporting each other, and the player community behind both games being part of a blended community who loves the broader idea of “The Long Dark” as a setting, the quiet apocalypse that unites the games.

It’s also really important that independent studios have the opportunity to gradually build up excitement around new projects. We don’t have massive marketing budgets to promote our games with. We sell directly to you, and our relationship is directly with you. Powerful systems like Wishlists on Steam are a way for studios to generate anticipation for their projects and to gather goodwill and interest, with some hope and expectation of converting those wishlists to sales over time. The more Wishlists a game launches with, the more likelihood of the launch going well, hitting that critical mass to gain attention and help it break out of the 1000+ new games that launch every month on Steam (there were almost 19,000 new games on Steam last year!), and the wishlists also indicate some general sense of how well the game could sell over time, which also helps with our own long-term planning.

This system is very core to how Steam works, as every launch or sale is an opportunity to ping the wishlisters with a reminder to buy the game. So we really need to be able to use this system as we build up towards the Early Access launch of BLACKFROST. But the Wishlist system only works if we can talk about our work, share it, and get new people excited about it!

We know that some of you were unhappy to see us announce BLACKFROST before we completed THE LONG DARK, as you have been waiting a long time for Episode Five, but if we have to wait until shipping Episode Five before we talk about our other work, our revenue could simply run dry before we get to the BLACKFROST launch, which would be a pretty serious problem for us! Our current plan is to launch BLACKFROST in Early Access about a year after we ship THE LONG DARK. We think that is a good amount of time to create space between the two games.

I understand the sentiment that we owe you Episode Five and that we have yet to deliver, and I get that you’ve waited a long time for it. We will be shipping it this year, and the game will be finished. I know it’s been frustrating. I’m not trying to minimize or ignore any of those feelings. I’m not making excuses and we take our responsibility to you very very seriously.

But I also know that we’ve been afraid to share any of our work outside of THE LONG DARK, for fear of alienating or angering players, who can sometimes be quite hostile, and this has held us back in many ways.

So, I’m asking you to try to be patient with us (as so many of you have been!), and give us the space to talk about BLACKFROST without pushing other fans out of our community or attacking the dev team or studio. There’s no BLACKFROST without THE LONG DARK, but the opposite will also become true. After Episode Five, there’s no TLD without BLACKFROST. The projects’ combined futures, and their roadmaps, are intertwined.

And someday, we might even talk about other non-TLD/BF projects! We hope we can be open with you and share our excitement about some of these things, knowing that even if you can’t feel excited about it with us, that you’ll leave some space for other fans to be happy and excited. We’re all here because we love the game, and we want for Hinterland to be more than “just” THE LONG DARK. We hope that you can come to care about our team and studio and all the things we hope to make in the future. Not just the game you’re playing right now. So please let’s together make sure we create a safe and positive space for that love of TLD and our future projects to be shared without attacking people for it.

I’d like to be able to start sharing more info about BLACKFROST in future dev diaries. If that’s going to be triggering for you while you wait for Episode Five, then I suggest you skip my dev diaries until Ep5 ships, and then come back and read them after.

We have to be able to share our work in order to make the games we want to make and run the studio the way we want to run it! I hope you understand, and will support us in this.

And if you want to support Hinterland and our future, please consider Wishlisting BLACKFROST on Steam.


If you’ve been playing THE LONG DARK on Tencent’s WeGame platform, we want to let you know that soon the game will be updated to have parity with Steam and Epic Game Store with the full update product structure (THE LONG DARK = Survival Mode + Wintermute) and also TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. If you already own THE LONG DARK, you will continue to own it (including WINTERMUTE), with no new purchase necessary.

Some of you have also asked about bringing the game back to GoG. We’ve been working with the business development team at GoG and are close to finalizing an agreement to bring the game to the store. As with WeGame, anyone who previously owned THE LONG DARK will automatically be updated to the latest version, with the option to purchase TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY if you wish. I want to be clear that the agreement isn’t yet finished; we’re still working through some details, but I’m hopeful we will get there and find a good path forward.


As a final note, you may notice that starting April 24th, for four days, THE LONG DARK will be -- for a very limited time -- available on Steam with a deep 90% discount. This is an experiment we are trying with Steam, to test some theories around pricing elasticity. This won’t apply to most of you reading this as you already own the game, but if you think we’ve done good work and you want to support us, you could mention it to a friend that you think would also enjoy the game! I doubt we’ll have the game discounted to this degree again for a long time.

***

That’s pretty much it for this Dev Diary. Thanks for reading, and I hope you found the information useful and interesting. If you want to discuss anything in this dev diary, we encourage you to do so in the Official Forums (registration required, Hinterland & volunteer moderated), in Steam (Hinterland & volunteer moderated), or Reddit for THE LONG DARK or BLACKFROST (both self-moderated with minimal Hinterland presence).

You can also subscribe to our Newsletter to be notified of news on new products in our Store or other general newsworthy topics, or follow us on Bluesky (Hinterland | The Long Dark | Blackfrost).

All the best, and stay safe out there.

- Raphael
Founder & Creative Director
Hinterland

Hello players,

We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.40, build 152417.

This is a Hotfix to THE LONG DARK and THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL EDITION and contains fixes for issues introduced with our Part Six release.



The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal. We are aware and working to address them.

• There are edge-cases where the Travois may fall beneath terrain. The Travois and items stored inside should now appear in Lost and Found boxes if it becomes unreachable.
  
• There are edge-cases where Safehouse Decorations can disappear from an interior, container, or the player’s inventory. Items lost this way should now appear in Lost and Found boxes.

This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:

PERFORMANCE & OPTIMIZATION

• Adjusted asset groupings to improve memory performance in-game.
  
• Adjusted collider settings on hundreds of objects, resulting in performance improvement and more accurate object detection.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

[Safehouse Customization]

• Fixed an issue that resulted in Crafted Work Benches disappearing when exiting and re-entering an interior.
  
• Fixed an issue where some folding chairs could not be broken down for materials.
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to place Decorations and Furniture on or intersecting interactable doors.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the "Clear Junk" prompt not appearing as expected when Safehouse Customization mode was invoked.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the "Clear Junk" prompt not appearing at all when using a controller and invoking Safehouse Customization mode.
  
• Fixed multiple issues with Decorations and objects in the Airfield Hangar that could not be Broken Down, Placed, or Destroyed.
  
• Fixed an issue with sign Decorations that prohibited them from being placed on walls.
  
• Fixed multiple issues with Safehouse Customization that resulted in objects and Decorations floating if an item they were placed upon was moved.
  
• Fixed an issue in Blackrock's Last Prospect Mine that caused the signs within to be interactable via Safehouse Customization
  
• Fixed an issue with multiple light emitting Decorations that resulted in them failing to light up during Aurora events when moved from their original interior to any other.
  
• Adjusted the placement behaviour of some items to deny some more preposterous item placements.
  
• Fixed an issue where Rüdiger's remains could be picked up and moved using Safehouse Customization. The remains can now only be removed.
  
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet Cannery that resulted in the inability to move a Fire Barrel via Safehouse Customization.
  
• Fixed an issue with handheld light sources in Safehouse Customization mode, that could result in the light source being thrown while interacting with Decorations or Furniture.
  
• Fixed an issue where Shower Curtains and Shower Curtain Bars had no time cost to Destroy.
  
• Fixed multiple issues in Blackrock Penitentiary with Safehouse Customization item placement not working as expected.
  
• Fixed an issue that could result in Decorations and Furniture disappearing from interiors and the player's inventory.
  
• Fixed an issue in Desolation Point Lonely Lighthouse with wall-hung Decorations that resulted in incorrect placement rules on the spiral staircase.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented a player from ascending or descending Rope Climbs if they activated Safehouse Customization while climbing. Safehouse Customization can no longer be invoked on Rope Climbs.
  
• Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield Control Tower where the Folding Table could not be moved, only destroyed.
  
• Fixed multiple issues in Zone of Contamination Pumphouse that resulted in some objects being difficult to place.
  
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination Pumphouse that prevented players from moving or destroying a specific wooden Crate.
  
• Fixed an issue with Dial Knob Decorations to make them easier to place on wall surfaces.
  
• Fixed an issue with Decorations and Furniture with interactable doors that made them difficult to select in Safehouse Customization while their associated door was open.
  
• Fixed an issue with a small Mount Decoration that prevented it from being placed on walls.
  
• Fixed an issue in Coastal Highway Quonset that resulted in the double Locker Furniture item being difficult to place.
  
• Fixed multiple issues in Zone of Contamination Miner Lodging that resulted in some objects not being interactable in Safehouse Customization.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in Decorations transferred from Zone of Contamination to any other Region being invisible when placed.
  
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination Concentrator where a metal sheet could not interactable via Safehouse Customization.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in Plank Piles displaying debug text when selecting them in Safehouse Customization.

[General]

• Adjusted the Cooking Menu UI for consistency, to allow for keyboard input when choosing an item to place on a cooking surface.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in Ravaged Wolf Carcasses disappearing from view when interacted with.
  
• Fixed a rare issue where player input would become unresponsive after harvesting a Carcass.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused frame rates to drop when near Timberwolves.
  
• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass Lotte's Rest where placing a Storm Lantern anywhere inside the cabin would result in it slowly drifting towards the front door.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a temporary black screen when attacked by a wolf while Breaking Ice to create an Ice Fishing Hole.
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to exploit Ice Fishing Holes to obstruct Wildlife pathing.
  
• Adjusted the Photo Album Journal tab for clarity to state that the player has no photos rather than leave it blank in that case.
  
• Fixed an issue where spawned Beachcombing items would appear 'ruined' even if the item Condition indicated otherwise.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in both 'Infection Risk Healed' and 'Infection' notifications appearing when an Infection Risk progressed to a full-blown Infection.
  
• Adjusted Campfire and Rock Cache placement logic on sloped surfaces to be a bit more lenient and sensible.
  
• Fixed an issue that could result in a held item visually duplicated and attached to the Survivor's feet when attempting to place it from the Radial Menu while inside a Snow Shelter.
  
• Fixed an issue that could result in the Travois becoming stuck in the entryway to Blackrock Prison.
  
• Added an additional UI marker to make it clear which Heat Pack is actively providing a Warmth bonus to the Survivor.
  
• Added additional iconography to the HUD to make it clear which type of Arrow is currently selected for use with the Bow.
  
• Fixed an issue with Cheat Death Recovery Campsites that resulted in item duplication each time the player transitioned to and from the Region in which the Campsite was located.
  
• Fixed an issue that sometimes resulted in colour Photographs when using Sepia Film.
  
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet Cannery that resulted in a corpse couple missing the option to 'Remove Respectfully'.
  
• Fixed an issue where Milk Crates were incorrectly labelled as 'sign'.
  
• Fixed an issue where a space was missing in the label "Furniture Work Bench".
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Large Shelf Furniture item being incorrectly labelled 'Lamp'.
  
• Fixed an issue where the 'Down Below' achievement could not be unlocked in certain older save files.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the 'Tasting Menu' achievement unlocking before the requirements were met.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a debug Inspect view after discarding a Photo and immediately examining another in the Journal.
  
• Fixed an issue where no icon was visible when notifying the player that Animal Fat in their inventory became ruined.
  
• Fixed an issue with certain Tool trades that could result in an incompletable trade.
  
• Fixed an issue with Forlorn Muskeg Poacher's Camp which made it impossible to Survey, preventing the Faithful Cartographer achievement from being completable.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Meat Curing Box that prevented players from removing its contents if the Box was full.
  
• Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield Main Hangar that resulted in Lockers becoming inaccessible if a Suitcase was stored within.
  
• Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield Main Hangar that resulted in a floating rope after moving Traffic Cone Decorations.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Wooden Spatula had no icon in the player's inventory.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Radio had no icon in the player's inventory.
  
• Fixed an issue where multiple Craftable Furniture items had no weight.
  
• Fixed an issue in Keeper's Pass North that prevented Rabbits and Wolves from spawning in certain locations.
  
• Fixed an issue in Desolation Point Hibernia Processing that resulted in a floating dish after removing the table beneath it. The dish can neither be moved nor destroyed.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in overlapping UI elements when repairing the Mountaineer's Cabin roof.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Camera's Viewfinder overlay remaining on screen if the player took damage from Wildlife while looking through it.
  
• Fixed an issue where a Weapon was incorrectly referenced in the error message displayed when trying to hold a Camera with two sprained wrist Afflictions.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Radio that made it difficult to find a location to place it.
  
• Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield Terminal where objects would remain floating when the item they were placed upon was destroyed or moved.
  
• Adjusted Pemmican Bars so they deteriorate at a much slower rate.
  
• Adjusted Recipes in the Recipe Book to better communicate the number of items produced when Cooking.
  
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination Pumphouse where items would remain floating in place when moving or destroying one of the Metal Shelves they were placed on.
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to destroy a cooking surface while it was lit, or actively Cooking items.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Survivor's hands shaking while they had the 'Severe Lacerations' Affliction.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Carter Hydro Dam Lower Level that resulted in incorrect shadows being cast on a damaged door.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in incorrect camera behaviour if a Survivor entered into a Struggle with Wildlife while Harvesting a Carcass.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Empty Prepper Cache that caused the metal shelf within, to fall through the ground layer if an object on the bottom shelf was moved.
  
• Fixed an issue in Blackrock Steam Tunnels that impeded player passage with invisible collision.
  
• Adjusted Carcass Harvesting to disallow players from attempting to Harvest Carcasses on Weak Ice.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Fixed an issue where Rifles were left floating in mid-air if the Gun Rack they were placed on was disassembled.
  
• Fixed an issue in a Coastal Highway Cabin Crate where a Candy Bar would spawn, but remain invisible to the player.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Camera's viewfinder overlay to appear misaligned or disjointed when using certain display resolutions.
  
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet Caves that resulted in Tools and Weapons dropped within to appear notably too bright.
  
• Fixed multiple issues which could result in Junk decals still appearing on objects when placing them in specific interiors.
  
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet that resulted in a large visible gap between boulders in an outcropping near Frozen Delta.
  
• Fixed an issue in Blackrock Steam Tunnels that caused a set of frayed wires to become invisible when viewed at certain angles.
  
• Fixed an issue in Blackrock Penitentiary that resulted in a gate sign remaining mid-air while the door it should be attached to opened and closed.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Ash Canyon Cave system North of Long Falls that resulted in god rays missing from the Cave ceiling.
  
• Updated the underside of Train Cars to remove unsightly details.
  
• Updated Stag Skulls to visually reflect whether they are mounted or unmounted in the player inventory.
  
• Improved the look of Pemmican Bars with a new icon and model.
  
• Fixed multiple issues in Sundered Pass where the back side of snow piles could be incorrectly seen through.
  
• Adjusted the lighting in multiple caves for consistency and quality.
  
• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass where a player could get stuck among a shallow rock outcropping.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused projectiles to collide with invisible geometry between the gaps in rope bridges. Projectiles now pass through correctly, and items cannot be placed on bridge surfaces.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Broken Railroad Cave where the snow layer was shifted beneath the terrain.
  
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination Idle Camp that resulted in an invisible Table within one of the buildings.

AUDIO

• Fixed an issue where no error sound effect could be heard when attempting to harvest a Salt Deposit without a Hatchet in the player's inventory.
  
• Fixed an issue that resulted in Cougar music being triggered in games where the Cougar is turned off.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC

• Fixed an issue where Xbox button prompts were displayed when using a PS5 controller on PC.
  
• Fixed an issue for Xbox and PlayStation players that resulted in Safehouse Customization Decoration capacity incorrectly tabulating the number of items in a scene, severely limiting the number of items a player could place.

Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. 


### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

Hello Community,

We have just released our v2.39 (149246) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This addresses one major issue.



*Fixed an issue that caused an "Attempt to Save game FAILED..." error and returned players to the main menu when they attempted to leave an interior during an Aurora.




Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. 


### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

Hello Community,

We have just released our v2.38 (149187) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This addresses one major issue.


GENERAL

*Fixed an issue that caused an "Attempt to Save game FAILED..." error (as shown below) and returned players to the main menu.




Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game.


### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

Hello Community,

We have just released our v2.36 (149072) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and WINTERMUTE updated to v2.12 (148383).

This Hotfix addresses multiple issues introduced in the v.2.33 update for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.




This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:


* Fixed an issue on Mac that could result in the application freezing when transitioning between load zones (interior to exterior, or between regions).





Additions and Changes

*[Holiday Cheer] Added a Festive Sweater.
*[Holiday Cheer] Added two new Festive Light Decorations that can be found in various locations across Great Bear Island and can be used in Safehouse Customization. 
*[Holiday Cheer] Added festive touches to multiple locations around Great Bear Island.
*Added stacks of additional Batteries to the following locations, to account for long-running games that had harvested Batteries before the Trader was added to the game: Prison Interior (Blackrock Region), Main Hangar (Forsaken Airfield Region), and Hibernia Processing (Desolation Point).
*Added an additional description to the interface of the Furniture Workbench to indicate that in progress and finished Furniture can be found in the "container" portion of the Workbench.
*Temporarily removed Cougars from Coastal Highway until we can ensure the spawn regions do not conflict with common player routes required for Trading.
*Tuned values for Vagabond Soup, Porter Soup, Last Resort Soup, and Pemmican Bars.
*Tuned the Camera so that it no longer inherits the weight of Film loaded into it.
*Tuned multiple Trade exchange requirements with an emphasis on reducing the cost of trades involving Batteries.
*Tuned Timberwolf spawn values to reduce the chances of their appearance in Regions where they are able to spawn.
*Tuned multiple Decorations, Tools, and objects which had excessive Destroy time and weight.
*Tuned multiple items to allow for their use as Decoration items in Safehouse Customization.
*Adjusted Broken Soda Machines to allow them to be destroyed.
*Adjusted Stanchions to allow them to be destroyed.
*Adjusted the "Big Cat Killer" Feat description to clarify it can no longer be unlocked and is a legacy Feat.


Cougar

*Fixed an issue where the Cougar would sometimes incorrectly engage the Survivor in a Struggle after being shot.
*Fixed an issue where dead Cougars could replay their death animation and sound effect after a player transitioned to and from an interior.
*Fixed an issue when choosing a "Close Risky Respawn" that could result in the Survivor spawning into active Cougar Territory.
*Fixed an issue where Aurora Cougars incorrectly continue to glow after being harvested.
*Fixed an issue where the Cougar could be toggled on in Challenge saves created prior to first installing Tales From the Far Territory.
*Fixed an issue where the Cougar could be toggled on in Pilgrim and Misery Experience saves created prior to first installing Tales *From the Far Territory.
*Fixed an issue that could result in the Cougar being present even when toggled off.



Safehouse Customization

*Fixed an issue that prevented multiple wall-mounted Decorations from being placeable on walls.
*Fixed an issue with overlapping interface elements when attempting to Repair certain Safehouse objects.
*Fixed an issue where Junk could be seen overlapping objects during placement.
*Fixed an issue with Campfires which allowed Decorations to be placed intersecting and within them.
*Fixed an issue where destroying certain objects or Decorations could result in parts of the object remaining floating in that space.
*Fixed an issue where Ruined Fish could incorrectly be used to craft Mounted Fish Decorations.
*Fixed multiple issues that allowed some objects and Decorations to be placed through walls.
*Fixed an issue that caused some shelving to be oriented incorrectly against walls in placement mode.
*Fixed multiple issues with objects and Decorations which intersected improperly with the surface upon which they were placed.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in wall-hung Decorations shifting slightly after exiting and re-entering an interior.
*Fixed an issue where certain wall-hung lamps could be incorrectly collected and moved.
*Fixed an issue where certain Workbenches would yield two Vices when broken down, instead of the intended one.
*Fixed an issue where some fallen Ceiling Panels could not be destroyed.
*Fixed an issue with flag Decorations which made them difficult to place and prevented rotation in placement mode.
*Fixed multiple placement issues with Plates that allowed them to be attached to walls, and positioned under floors.
*Fixed an issue with the orientation of Horseshoe Decorations when mounted to walls.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in objects and Decorations becoming invisible when stacked or placed too closely together.
*Fixed an issue with Stage Curtains that resulted in them being difficult to orient and place.
*Fixed an issue with Stage Curtains that incorrectly allowed players to put them in their Backpack.
*Fixed an issue with Steamer Trunks that prevented them from being placed.
*Fixed an issue where some Soda Display Refrigerators could not be placed.
*Fixed an issue where Safehouse Customization could become unavailable to a player if they attempted to carry an item outside of the customization zone.
*Fixed an issue where Safehouse Customization could be toggled while using the Trader Radio.
*Fixed an issue where an incorrect axe icon was present in the "Break Down" and "Destroy" options for Workbenches in Safehouse Customization.
*Fixed an issue in one of Mystery Lake's Cabins where a shelf was incorrectly oriented and could not be interacted with via Safehouse Customization.
*Fixed an issue where choosing to "Break Down" specific Drawers had no effect.
*Fixed an issue where plastic Milk Crates could unintentionally only be placed on walls instead of surfaces.
*Fixed an issue with multiple Signs and Picture Frames where debug text could be seen when looking at the Decoration.
*Fixed an issue where certain shelves would drop to the floor after exiting and re-entering an interior.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in bloody bandages remaining after choosing to Clear Junk.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in multiple objects highlighted in Safehouse Customization mode not being interactable.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in certain doors incorrectly allowing players to place, move and destroy them.
*Fixed multiple issues in Blackrock Prison's Barracks with objects and Decorations that could not be placed after being picked up.
*Fixed an issue in Blackrock Prison Interior where objects and Decorations could not be placed on the floor of the workshop.
*Fixed an issue with the Moosehead Trophy in Pleasant Valley Community Hall which prevented it from being moved along with its mount.
*Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield's Hangar with containers which could not be searched or used as storage.
*Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield's Hangar with objects and Decorations that could not be placed after being picked up.
*Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield's Hangar with objects and Decorations that could be incorrectly mounted on walls.
*Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield's Terminal building where wall-hung objects would be difficult to place, and oriented incorrectly when placed.
*Fixed multiple issues in Zone of Contamination's Idle Camp where items could not be moved or placed in Safehouse Customization mode.
*Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination's Concentrator which prevented many objects and Decorations from being placed on the walls and floor.
*Fixed multiple issues in Mountain Town's St. Christopher's Church with objects and Decorations that could be incorrectly mounted on walls.
*Fixed multiple issues in Mountain Town's St. Christopher's Church with objects and Decorations that could not be placed after being picked up.
*Fixed an issue in Mountain Town's Park Hut where objects and Decorations could not be placed on a certain section of the floor.



Trader

*Fixed an issue where the Survivor could fall through the ground immediately after exiting the Bunker during the Trader's fifth Special Request.
*Fixed an issue where the Hatch Wheel could disappear from the Survivor's backpack during the Trader's fifth Special Request, making it incompleteable.
*Fixed an issue where the Trader's first line of dialogue can be heard twice when first contacting them.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in the Trader's fourth Special Request being incompletable. The request can now be completed on new and pre-existing save files.



General
    
*Fixed an issue in Coastal Highway near the Southwestern bridge where players could get stuck.
*Fixed an issue in Pleasant Valley's Farmhouse Barn where a player could get stuck trying to drop down past the ladder.
*Fixed an issue where Notes found in the Blackrock Prison Interior were missing icons in the Survivor's Journal.
*Fixed an issue where “Fluffy” could incorrectly spawn in the Bleak Inlet Workshop when the player revisits this location.
*Fixed an issue where the number of Ptarmigan killed was not displayed in Journal Statistics.
*Fixed an issue where the Heatpad warmth bonus could be lost when swapping between multiple activated Heatpads.
*Fixed an issue where Heatpads were too large when displayed in the Inspect interface.
*Fixed an issue where Inspecting a Film Pack resulted in the item being scaled and positioned in a poor initial state.
*Fixed an issue where a "Deploy" option was present when viewing the contents of containers.
*Fixed an issue where interacting with a repairable object while holding a Lantern resulted in being unable to extinguish or stow it.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in a missing "Required Material" icon when attempting to repair an item that required more than one Material.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in unlocking the "Something Warm to Drink" achievement after finding only one Insulated Flask.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in unlocking the "To the Teeth" achievement after finding only one firearm variant.
*Fixed an issue with the Nomad Challenge where time spent in the Stone Church was not registering, rendering the Challenge incompletable.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in an "Attempt to SAVE game failed." error message when moving Decorations stored in the Travois.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in items stored in the Travois disappearing after transitioning.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in Vagabond and Last Resort Soup sharing the same icon and model in the Recipe Book interface.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in Cooking Oil and Broth sharing the same icon in the Recipe Book interface.
*Fixed an issue where the Vitamin-C benefit of Recipes viewed in the Recipe Book was overlapped by the Recipe name.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in Cured Meat and Fish causing Food Poisoning at much too high a rate.
*Fixed an issue that allowed players to pass through walls using object placement and collision.
*Fixed an issue that resulted in stuttering when exiting to Pleasant Valley from any interior.
*Fixed an issue that prevented Fish from being caught in Custom Survival games.
*Fixed an issue with a rug in the Pleasant Valley Community Hall which caused it to flicker during and after being placed.




* Fixed an issue that caused incorrect and inconsistent exterior lighting when moving in and out of caves.
*Fixed multiple locations where Cougar claw marks on trees were stretched or warped.
*Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass where a Deer Carcass was incorrectly placed beneath terrain.
*Fixed multiple locations in Zone of Contamination where Pallets, Metal Sheets, and debris would appear and disappear when approached.
*Fixed multiple issues in Pleasant Valley, Forsaken Airfield, Broken Railroad, and Zone of Contamination where objects could be collided with, but were not visible.
*Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass which resulted in Aurora Wildlife glowing too brightly.
*Fixed an issue where Aurora effects took precedence over placement and Safehouse Customization effects.
*Fixed an issue where equipping a Bow and Tactical Gloves resulted in the Survivor's right hand appearing much larger than normal.
*Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield where an Oil Tank would become invisible when approached.
*Fixed an issue where the Pemmican Bar Recipe Card incorrectly referenced "Orca Bar".
*Fixed an issue in the Ash Canyon transitional Cave that caused a visible seam in terrain.




* Fixed an audio issue with multiple Signs and Picture Frames where the wrong sound played when Destroyed.



### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

Today we share the first glimpse into the future of THE LONG DARK.

After 10 years of developing the first game, this is a big moment for the team. While we complete the final episode of our WINTERMUTE story mode slated for release in 2025, we wanted to use the platform of the The Game Awards as an opportunity to share our vision for the future of survival games.

We call it BLACKFROST, and it’s the sequel to THE LONG DARK.

Years ago, I asked myself what the future of THE LONG DARK could look like. Despite pouring everything we have into that game, I still felt there were things I wanted to do with the setting, the mechanics, but also things that just aren’t possible within the current game. I knew we would have to build something new, with foundations that could support our grand vision. When we started THE LONG DARK, we had no idea we’d be building it and supporting the community for 10 years. With BLACKFROST, we asked ourselves -- what if we *started* a project as though we knew it would last for 10 years, or even longer? What different decisions might we make?

BLACKFROST builds on a decade of construction, experimentation, and community-informed development of an experience we love dearly. It expands beyond the ego-centrism of THE LONG DARK and asks you, not how far you will go to survive, but how far will you go to survive for others?

The “others” could be other players in co-op, but also other survivors in the world. NPC communities hiding out from the dangers of the aurora, the radioactive “black frost”, and a whole host of new threats they experience in the city of Harmont and the vast wilderness surrounding it. What new scenarios, gameplay mechanics, and stories could such a setting inspire?

We aren’t saying too much more about BLACKFROST at this point, as we are focused on completing our obligations around THE LONG DARK 1. But we hope this early look is compelling and exciting for you. We hope to enlist you in the coming months and years, in helping us build the future of survival games.

BLACKFROST won’t launch until 2026, so this is a very early moment in time for the project. And for those of you who have grown up with THE LONG DARK over the years, BLACKFROST is not the end. It is only the beginning of the next chapter. We see both THE LONG DARK 1 and BLACKFROST co-existing for a long time, with each game having a distinct point of view around the ‘Quiet Apocalypse’. They will be complimentary, preserving the investment of time and money you have put into TLD over the years.

But with BLACKFROST, we are pushing our philosophy and vision for survival forward in ways we could have never believed possible when we first launched TLD back in 2014. We can’t wait to show you more of what we are building. We hope you are as excited as we are!

For now, please take a moment in your busy day to enjoy this view into the new world we are creating for you. I think it is as beautiful as it is dangerous, full of adventure, mystery, and opportunity. A place you want to survive in.



Live together, or die alone. Welcome to the world of BLACKFROST.


Raphael van Lierop

Creative Director
Hinterland

For Media Queries: press@hinterland.com

Media Kit here.