Jun 23, 2019

Frostpunk, 2018's best sim, is half price on Steam right now

Frostpunk

Grim city-building survival game Frostpunk, which we named 2018's best sim, is 50% off on Steam right now. It's $15/£12.50—its lowest ever price, according to deal site IsThereAnyDeal.

In Frostpunk, you slowly build a city in a frozen world that offers very few resources. It's tough, and miserable at times: you'll contemplate horrific decisions just to make it through the day, such as mixing sawdust into meals to bulk them out, or sending children to work in dangerous factories. Your citizens will often freeze, fall ill or starve, and if they're unhappy enough they can even banish you from your own city.

Chris sung its praises in his 89/100 review, calling it a "stressful, stylish, and addictive survival management game filled with incredibly difficult choices". Once you've started a campaign, its very hard to tear yourself away.

The 50% off deal lasts until Tuesday, and you can grab it here. If you need more convincing, it's also on our list of the best PC games you can play right now.

Jun 4, 2019

Frostpunk - MacOS, Console Edition, saves compatibility and more!

Frostpunk - Rufus Blackwood

Hi there, Frostpunk Community!

We’ve got a lot of stuff to discuss, so without further ado, let’s get to it! In this Community Update, we’ll be discussing:

MacOS version of the game
Disappearing save files issue.
Save files backward compatibility.
The console release of the game.
Upcoming Frostpunk content and 11 bit studios’ other projects.

1. MacOS version of the game.

As you know, Frostpunk for OS X was supposed to be launched in February but we decided to postpone the launch of this version due to some technical difficulties that were discovered at the very last moment. Over the past two months, we have been working hard to polish the game and while it’s not ready yet, we need to stress that, despite rumours, OS X version of the game has not been canceled - it is simply undergoing development and polish that has been deemed so needed back in February.

We’re very grateful for your patience and understanding, we are also well aware of your eagerness to get your hands on the game. It’s a letdown that Frostpunk still has not been released for OS X and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience. We just feel that releasing the game in its current state, even despite all the work we put into it thus far, would mean giving you software that does not meet the quality standards that are expected of us. We’re deeply sorry for this situation - we’ve expanded our dev team to fix this version of Frostpunk and release it as soon as possible. We know that you’re expecting a release date and you have been waiting for it for quite a while - we’re doing our best to deliver the game you’re waiting for.

2. Disappearing save files issue.

Over the past few months, some of you have reported a serious issue with Frostpunk - you contacted us to let us know that your saves have been disappearing. Some of you experienced that after a standard shutdown of the game, for some of you it crashed and then the progress was lost.

We wanted to let you know that we’ve not taken this issue lightly and we have committed significant resources to find out what is going wrong but so far, our efforts - and it pains us to admit it - have not resulted in finding out what is wrong, at least so far, even despite the vast amount of data you have provided us with. Our QA division has been given a dose of fresh blood and we will not yield until this bug is found and dealt with. We have several new leads, we’re running tests of our own, we’re gathering data and analysing it, so while some of your cities may have been lost to the cold grip of Frostpunk’s merciless soul, they are not forgotten. And they shall rise again, to battle the cold, survive the storms and thrive against all the odds.

We’re extremely grateful for all your help, we cannot put into words how great it is to have a community filled with players who were ready to provide us with ConsoleOutputs, DxDiags and save files - all of this just shows how awesome you are. Thank you for your understanding and reports, fan creations and messages, we’re humbled to have you as our fans.

3. Save files backward compatibility (REALLY important stuff!).

We have already overwhelmed you with a lot of information - so we'll keep this one short. As we're constantly updating the game and trying to solve the disappearing saves issue - we have decided to disable save files backward compatibility. We know it sounds terrible - but worry not, it's not THAT bad.

What are we actually disabling?
All saves older than those from version 1.3.3 (a.k.a. Photo Mode Update) of the game won't be compatible anymore.

What does it mean?
Well, it means that they probably won't work. They might, in some cases. But in general, we can't promise that.

Can I still keep my progress?
Good news! Yes, you can. Just update the game to version 1.3.3, continue your playthrough and save it. All the saves made in version 1.3.3 should normally work in the future!

When do we plan to do it?
It's a matter of a few weeks, probably. We'll keep you updated - but please be sure to update your game to 1.3.3 and update your save files. We won't be able to bring back your lost progress when we finally introduce that change.

4. The console release of the game.

As you know, we’re working on the console version of Frostpunk. Our main idea here is to create a truly flawless, intuitive experience for our console community. So far, we’re making some really good progress! But you don’t have to take our word for it! Here’s a list of recent Console Edition previews:

11 Bit studios wants Frostpunk's console port to be a superior experience - by Destructoid.
Everything You Need To Know About The Console Edition Of Frostpunk - by GameInformer.
The Future of Frostpunk – Expansion to Consoles and DLC - by TechRaptor.

5. Upcoming Frostpunk content and 11 bit studios’ other projects.

That’s not all, though! We’re still working on more content for Frostpunk. It’s too early to tell you anything else at the moment - but expect to see Frostpunk’s first piece of DLC before the end of 2019!

Project 8, our next game, is also being worked on - but we’re even more secretive about it than about Frostpunk’s DLC. However, Robert from Eurogamer tried to get some information from Marta Fijak, Projekt 8’s Lead Designer. You can read the article yourself - “What's next for the Frostpunk studio” - and decide if he succeeded.

On top of that, we're working very hard with Dead Mage team to release Children of Morta! For the time being, you can learn some new stuff about the game here:

Children of Morta Weaves a Wonderful Narrative with Tight Combat - by TechRaptor
Children Of Morta Makes Dungeon Crawling A Family Affair - by GameInformer

And if you like what you see - be sure to add Children of Morta to your Steam Wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/330020/Children_of_Morta/

That’s all the news we’ve prepared for today. See you next time!

Have a good one!
11 bit studios

Jun 4, 2019

What's next for the Frostpunk studio

This War of Mine

There's a real sense of momentum about Polish game-maker 11 bit Studios. It might not be turning out blockbusters, in the biggest sense, but the games it makes are thought-provoking in ways which stay with you long after playing. In This War of Mine, we played as civilians trying to survive in a warzone; in Frostpunk we built a city and braced it for apocalyptic cold. Both games asked how far you were prepared to go to survive.

They reviewed well and they sold well. 11 bit announced recently Frostpunk had sold more than 1.4 million copies on PC, and there's a version coming to PS4 and Xbox One this summer (11 bit would like to do Switch, it tells me, but hasn't even begun exploring it yet. Edit: Frostpunk project lead Jakub Stokalski talked more on Twitter about the possibility of a Switch version after this article was published. It doesn't sound likely. "The demand for it would have to be overwhelming for us to consider it," he said.) 11 bit also helps other indie games as publisher. In other words, it's a company on the rise, and all that momentum is going into what's next: Project 8.

Project 8 will be the first game 11 bit has made with consoles in mind from the outset, the company's PR and marketing manager Karol Zajaczkowski tells me, at Digital Dragons 2019. The hope is a simultaneous PC and console launch - whatever those consoles happen to be at the time.

May 9, 2019

Frostpunk could become the setting for an RPG

Frostpunk

Frostpunk just saw its one-year anniversary, and in that time it’s sold more than 1.4 million copies, far exceeding developer 11 bit Studio’s expectations. Now, the studio is thinking about what comes next for their game, which they’ve bolstered over the past 12 months with a steady stream of post-release content. While a sequel would certainly make sense, the studio has other ideas in mind, too—including a role-playing game set in the Frostpunk universe.

GamesIndustry.biz spoke with Patryk Grzeszczuk, 11 bit’s director of marketing, about his company’s future plans for Frostpunk. Part of those plans is bringing Frostpunk to consoles, which the studio is working on now.

But further on down the road, Grzeszczuk says 11 bit is looking into exploring new genres, including RPGs. The studio has been gradually adding to Frostpunk’s backstory and lore as they’ve produced more DLC, and that process has resulted in a world rich enough to support a more narrative-leaning game.

“We’ve had that approach since day one,” Grzeszczuk said. “We wanted to create a world, and then fill that world with stories, with places, and then build connections between them.”

“The world of Frostpunk is growing,” he continued. “And we’re thinking that, in the future we should think about, maybe not a sequel, but a spin-off—an RPG set in the same universe.”

Grzeszczuk didn’t elaborate further, but it’s an exciting idea, particularly coming from a studio that, between Frostpunk and This War of Mine, has pushed us into some of the most harrowing decisions we’ve ever had to make in video games.

Should Frostpunk find continued success in the console market, it’s likely we’ll see a more expanded universe in the near future.

We gave Frostpunk our Best Sim award for 2018.

Apr 24, 2019

1 year anniversary!

Frostpunk - Almighty Pudding

Hello Citizens!

Exactly a year ago, on 24th April 2018, Frostpunk has landed on PCs all around the world. By now the game has sold over 1.4 million copies. We - all 11 bit team members - are taking our hats off to you for supporting us, for establishing this great community and for giving us feedback and ideas that helped to create what Frostpunk has become now.

In celebration of this momentous anniversary, we wanted to share some of the numbers behind the in-game economy and show how the game is performing overall. Let's take a look at the stylish infographics:

and a fact about Aruba:

and an info about coal mining:

and about Marek:

You might think there’s more information to that last stat and there certainly is! Marek Ziemak — a producer at 11 bit studios responsible for Moonlighter, and more — always had a tough time building a stable economy and keeping his citizens satisfied in Frostpunk. Sadly, he couldn’t even find success in the game’s easiest mode, Serenity. The dev team found this amusing enough that they even created an achievement, lovingly titled “Hi Marek!” with an icon picturing a mildly irritated Marek.

“Frostpunk is one of the most satisfying projects I have ever seen in creation, but I still find it challenging to play. It’s just like my job as a producer! Sometimes, when you lead and focus on creating something beautiful, the people under your charge might not always love every decision you have to make" - he said.

All the stats are based on Steam and our internal tests, so be sure it's all legit:

Peace!