Frostpunk 1886: The survival building game gets a remake in the Unreal 5 engine

Frostpunk 1886: The Survival Building Game Gets a Remake in the Unreal Engine 5 61 comments

Frostpunk 1886: The Survival Building Game Gets a Remake in the Unreal Engine 5

Image: 11 Bit Studios

Polish indie publisher and developer 11 Bit Studios has announced a reimagining of the original Frost Point with Frostpunk 1886.

Summary :

Indie Game with Familiar Gameplay

As in the original Frostpunk, players take control of a last bastion of humanity amidst a rapidly cooling climate in 1886. Again, the game focuses on resource scarcity, social control, and moral decisions in extreme conditions. The basic structure of building a city around a generator, supplying the population, and enacting laws or expeditions remains unchanged.

In terms of content, Frostpunk 1886 is intended to take a new approach. The year of the name marks the beginning of the Great Cold. The action begins here and thus also focuses on the beginnings of the catastrophe in the city of New London and the disintegration of the once-dominant empire. According to the developer, the game is not a new edition in the narrower sense, but a “companion experience” that expands the existing story. Among other things, the “Purpose Path,” a new ideological development path parallel to the branches of Faith and Order, is new, with which society can be structurally shaped. New laws and game systems have also been announced.

Upgrade to Unreal Engine 5 with MOD support

Technically, Frostpunk 1886 is no longer based on the Liquid Engine, but, like its successor, Frostpunk 2 (test), will be based on the Unreal Engine 5, which will be released in the fall of 2024. This should not only allow for more visually complex renderings, but also speed up development itself, according to 11 Bit Studios. The developers emphasize that “all the possibilities offered by the Unreal Engine” should be used—in addition to sampling, ray tracing, light ray tracing, and nanite are also included. The game’s new graphics have yet to be seen; so far, there’s only a single trailer and no footage.

With the new engine comes a frequently requested feature: mod support. Frostpunk 1886 is expected to be available with the first official modding tools available in the game. The details of the content that will be changed are not yet known, but it should include mechanics, rules, and gameplay tweaks. The goal is to better integrate the creative community and increase the game’s long-term longevity, according to 11 Bit Studios.

Creating Frostpunk 2

Frostpunk 1886 is expected to be released in 2027 for PC. A release on other platforms is possible, but has not yet been confirmed. The game can already be wishlisted on Steam. After release, the game is expected to coexist alongside Frostpunk 2 and receive further content and DLC. While Part 2 sees itself as a societal survival strategy and focuses more on the macro level, political factions, and civilization management, Frostpunk 1886 once again sees itself as narratively oriented, with direct building and survival.

This is Frostpunk (2018)

The first Frostpunk game was released in 2018 and combined classic building strategy with survival elements, morally charged decisions, and a dark sailpunk setting. In a frozen world, players had to manage resources to maintain social order and enforce laws—often at the expense of individual freedoms. The game sold over 3 million copies by 2021 and was praised for its atmosphere, depth of gameplay, and socio-political storyline, becoming one of the defining titles of the survival building genre.