Fans of the ice-covered society builder Frostpunk have more to look forward to as a new trailer has announced a sequel is in the works. 11 Bit Studios, the developers of the original Frostpunk as well as other games like This War of Mine, released a trailer on their YouTube channel announcing Frostpunk 2 is in development. This comes after some cryptic tweets from the developers using the hashtag "SnowBloodOil."
The announcement trailer features a man speaking over a loudspeaker about the needs of survival with panning shots of abandoned homes and oil jacks. As the voice continues to speak the virtues of this once-living town, the camera follows a line of spilled blood that eventually mixes with oil before arriving at a man bound and frozen, with the word "LIAR" written across his chest.
Speaking to PC Gamer, co-director of Frostpunk 2 Jakub Stokalski talked about how he and his co-director Łukasz Juszczyk internally viewed the original title as an "apocalyptic game." It was a game about the world in the process of falling apart and the scramble to try and get through the collapse. The sequel, therefore, is a post-apocalypse game. "What will happen next, this is the big question,'' said Stokalski. "So I would say that the overall themes of the game are not going to be all beds of roses. I would say that it's going to be somewhat different in tone from the original."
Outside this thematic view from the directors and the game's existence, there isn't much more known about the game and it seems that 11 Bit Studios is staying tight-lipped for the time being. Stokalski confirmed that the game is still "pretty early in development" so it will probably be a while until we are able to play the game, yet they want to make the game bigger, but broader in scope and continue the themes of the original game while also exploring more of human nature. Luckily, more people now than ever before have the chance to play Frostpunk. A version for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 was released back in July and currently, on Steam, there is a free weekend for the game to celebrate the announcement of the sequel.
Frostpunk 2 is currently in development for PC. Check out the announcement trailer and read the game's synopsis below.
[Frostpunk 2] takes place 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard storm, and Earth is still overwhelmed by the neverending frost and harsh, icy climate. You play as the leader of a resource-hungry metropolis where the expansion and search for new sources of power is an unavoidable reality. After the age of coal, conquering Frostland for the oil extraction industry is expected to be the new salvation of what’s left of humanity. However, change does not come easily, and not everyone in this new multi-layered society will welcome this new direction.