Frostpunk 2released back in September, but as many gamers know, a dev’s job is never done.Frostpunk 2devs have been hard at work addressing feedback, planning new content, and establishing a roadmap that will see the game’s tail continue to grow over the next year and a half. The proof is in the pudding thanks toFrostpunk 2’s first major content update that came out a few weeks ago. And beyond all of that, fans know that an Unreal Engine remake of the original game dubbedFrostpunk: 1886is releasing in 2027.
Game Rant recently spoke withFrostpunk 2co-game director/design director Jakub Stokalski about the sequel’s trajectory since release. Among other things, we discuss how 11 bit viewsFrostpunkas a franchise and a little of what fans can expect from the sequel down the road.The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Frostpunk as a Franchise
Q: We spoke last year at this event, and obviously since then, Frostpunk 2 has come out and you’ve released this major content update. From that last event till now, how’s your journey been?
A: Intensive. The only answer you might expect, I guess, in a shipping year. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been good overall, right? It’s satisfying to see the game out and getting recognized with some major awards like atThe Game Awards. The team is super proud of it. We’ve also gotten a lot of feedback from players, both good and critical, which is a good thing. We are processing that and trying to mold that feedback into our current work, like the 1.3 patch, the free content update, and of course, upcoming DLCs and free content updates.
Q: During the presentation on Frostpunk: 1886, it was mentioned that 11 bit envisions Frostpunk as a franchise, so I wanted to ask about your perspective on that, on Frostpunk as a franchise?
A: It’s been an interesting journey because, even with Frostpunk: 1886, we saw comments saying this was a reaction to criticisms that Frostpunk 2 got around release, which is really far from the truth.The decision to make Frostpunk: 1886was made as we were developing Frostpunk 2 because Frostpunk 2 was the first strategy game we did on Unreal Engine, right? The tech that we did Frostpunk 1 on is impossible to continue working on under current circumstances, our custom engine, but using Unreal, we can bring back that game, which obviously has a big player base. People love it, right? It’s a different game from Frostpunk 2.
Having it, being able to expand on it, and having both games as different types of experiences you may have within the same world, side by side, speaks to calling it a franchise, right? It’s not your typical franchise—I don’t know, Assassin’s Creed or stuff like that when you get the same type of experience game after game. I like to think about Frostpunk as a world, right? As a world and the games as a language with which you can tell different stories within that world. Frostpunk 1 told the story of an intimate, desperate fight for survival among a relatively small group of people, and 1886 is going to revisit that, right?Frostpunk 2 explores the storyof what happens after you survive the end of the world when ambitions take over and human nature is back in play. And who knows what the future is going to bring, right?
This, to me, is a fascinating way of looking at it as a franchise. Frostpunk is a world, and we can use the unique language of games, using different subsets of this language, different genre combinations, to tell unique stories in that world.
The entire question to Frostpunk 2 is what happens after surviving the end of the world, so if there ever were a Frostpunk 3, I think it’s a little funny because the question is what happens after that.
Who knows, right? It’s an interesting question of how this world develops, right? Cycles and stuff like that.
Q: I also spoke with the Frostpunk: 1886 director earlier today, and one thing we talked about was the scale of your games from This War of Mine to Frostpunk to Frostpunk 2. I wanted your opinion as well. How would you define its overall scale as the franchise has gotten bigger?
A:Well, it’s definitely a funny thing. Obviously, Frostpunk 1 was a big success for us when it was released in 2018. We made the decision to actually start work on a sequel, I guess, at the end of 2019. It was a great success, but it was nowhere near the scale of how many players play Frostpunk 1 now. It grew over these four years as we developed Frostpunk 2, so it’s really mind-boggling to me. I don’t have the numbers on hand, but it’s millions of players. You’re correct in the sense that this IP has grown a lot, right?
We’re obviously nowhere near the heavyweights in the business, but we’re not tiny either, right? It’s an interesting thing, but I think the important thing is we explore this space usinggames of different genres, right? If you have a very mainstream genre, like Assassin’s Creed again, you get a certain type of experience and you model your IP in a certain way. If you choose to explore it with different avenues, it can bring unexpected results, right? I’m really keen to see how that’s going to develop.
The Future of Frostpunk 2
Q: The roadmap lists Frostpunk 2 as coming to consoles this summer. You spoke a little bit about the UI, but I also wanted to ask how exactly you approached that UI? Frostpunk 1 is very fun on consoles, and it is rare that a strategy game UI works so flawlessly on consoles.
A:We are very proud of that port. We had good feelings when we were developing it, but actually hearing you are not alone in this opinion, right? It’s great. Frostpunk 1 actually has a higher Metascore on consoles than it does PC, which is crazy. That aside, it’s true that there is this certain tactile fun in Frostpunk 1, and it’s not common instrategy games.
We’ll see how it works for Frostpunk 2 because it is even larger and more complex, right? We will see if we manage to do that again, but at the very least, it’s not going to be unwieldy, right? A lot of strategy games I play on consoles, I love them on PC, and it’s great they’re on consoles, right? But I am never going to put in the effort to play them with a controller. I don’t think that’s the case with Frostpunk 2; I think it’s going to be a lot smoother experience.
Q: What can you say about the Spectrum DLC? I know you said we’ll be interacting with these people who didn’t join factions.
A: I can’t speak to details that are not public yet, but I can definitely say that one of the elements of feedback we are monitoring and basing our roadmap on is exactly this fact that people likefactions and the council system, but obviously, the factions are the crazy dudes, right? These are the guys taken over by ideology. In a way, the “normal people” are still in there, but they take a backseat. There’s an argument to be made that this is the way it works.
At the same time, it’s worth remembering that normal people are still there, right? We want to do that justice. We’ve also seen people say it’s just the crazies and whatever, but no, there are normal people in there as well. Actually exploring stuff for normal people. If you want to really challenge yourself and this idea of utopia, which inevitably becomes a dystopia for someone else, you could play it and try to keep it “normal.” Hopefully, the Spectrum DLC is going to allow you to do that.
Q: Based on the roadmap, you have another year and a half or so planned. I was curious: over this time, where do you see Frostpunk 2 going? Generally speaking.
A: Well, I definitely have high hopes thatFrostpunk 2 will continue to grow. Content is obvious, right? That’s why we’re doing DLCs, but that’s not even the most important part, I think. Frostpunk 2 is a complex game, and it’s even more complex than Frostpunk 1. Having it be more polished, fine-tuned, and more accessible to a larger group of people is something I hope we will be able to achieve with the free content updates. We’re trying to make them a channel to make the game better for everyone. If you have fun or maybe you don’t, maybe you just played a bit, and you come back again in 6 months, 10 months, or whatever, you have not only new stuff to play around with, but it’s more pleasurable to play around with, right? Then, the DLCs add stuff that will make Frostpunk 2 a richer, broader experience.
I definitely hope that this is going to continue, and the mod community is also going to be interesting. The Frost Kit is in its 1.0 version, it’s no longer in beta, so we can finally see what players are looking to make in Frostpunk 2. Obviously, then there’s also going to be the release of Frostpunk: 1886, so my hopes are that this world is going to be as vibrant as ever, really, and bigger than ever over the next year and a half.
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Frostpunk 2
WHERE TO PLAY
The game takes place 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard that has taken place in Frostpunk. Earth is still overwhelmed by the neverending frost and harsh, icy climate. You play as the leader of a resource-hungry metropolis where expansion and internal conflicts are an unavoidable reality. It’s up to you to make decisions about your City’s future and face their consequences.In Frostpunk 2 you’re able to build your City on a new scale by creating entire districts with different purposes. Make sure that all parts of the City work well together as well as research technologies that will set the direction for your citizens’ progress.THE CITY MUST NOT FALL “Frostpunk 2 is still a game about the City and its society,” states Jakub Stokalski, game Co-Director and Design Director at 11 bit studios. “But inner turmoils, sparked by rising social differences, mean that players will be facing new kinds of threats. We use a post-apocalyptic setup to tell a meaningful story about human ambition. Because ultimately, what can end us is not nature itself – it’s human nature.”NAVIGATE BETWEEN FACTIONS AS A STEWARD As the City grows, creating and passing new laws becomes a more complex matter. The people slowly divide into factions with different, often contradictory visions of the future. The Council is a place where these ideas clash, sometimes violently. It’s your role as a Steward to ensure that the city will not fall because of those conflicts. Manage emerging crises while at the same time steering humanity towards a new destiny.
