What you need to know
- Frostpunk 2 releases on PC on July 25. Subscribers of PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will have access on day one.
- The game is a sequel to 11 bit studio’s 2018 strategy city builder, set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia following a world changing blizzard.
- Frostpunk 2 follows up by focusing on the tensions of factions and the decisions of the city council, and includes a brand-new sandbox mode called Utopia Builder Preview.
- Players who preorder the Deluxe Edition of Frostpunk 2 can participate in a week-long beta access period starting today, April 15 and lasting until April 22.
11 bit studios’ much-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Frostpunk is heading to PC on July 25. Players who have preordered the Deluxe Edition of the Frostpunk 2 can get a head start with a week of limited Beta access. The beta period will begin April 15 at 7 PM CEST/1 PM ET/10 AM PT, lasting until April 22 at 7 PM CEST/1 PM ET/10 AM PT. To mark the beta period, Frostpunk 2 co-directors have released a developer commentary video to give PC players the first deep-dive into what they can expect when the game launches this summer.
Frostpunk launched in 2018, thrusting players into a uniquely post-blizzard world that had become inhospitable except for the zone surrounding a massive and unwieldy furnace. The player could strategize how and when to grow their city, scavenge for resources, and help their people survive the harsh new wintry world.
For Frostpunk 2, however, 11 bit studios has taken the mechanics for the game in a slightly different direction. Instead of focusing exclusively on building up the city, players become the Steward, who must keep the city from falling as tensions rise between the factions of survivors. The game maintains its society-based strategy survival roots, but the impacts and decisions that shape the society of survivors has bigger impacts on the gameplay.
At 11 bit studios, we don’t really believe in making just a sequel. It never satisfied us creatively, and we don’t really believe it would satisfy you. So we always wanted to build on top of the foundations that was Frostpunk 1, and create something new, something exciting.
Jakub Stokalski, 11 bit studios
When it was initially released, Frostpunk did not include a sandbox mode. Once an Endless Mode option was added in a later update, players began to invest hundreds of hours into building and maintaining their city. Frostpunk 2 will launch with the brand-new sandbox experience, Utopia Builder, and players can try it out as part of the limited access during the week-long beta period. The Beta preview will give players access to approximately 40 percent of the full Frostpunk 2.
11 bit studios has already shared plans for three post-release DLCs, making the sequel significantly larger than its predecessor. Purchasing the Digital Deluxe edition of Frostpunk 2 will include access to that DLC content when it is released, in addition to the base game, this week’s beta access, and 72 hours of early access to the title’s story mode before launch. The Digital Deluxe edition will include the “Warm Flesh” digital novella, a digital artbook, and the game’s original soundtrack, as well.
Frostpunk 2 will launch on PC on July 25, with an Xbox release planned for later in 2024. The game will be available for purchase, but subscribers of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass will have day one access at no extra cost. Frostpunk 2 will also be available on Xbox Game Pass day one when it releases on console.
