Frostpunk developer 11 bit Studios has begun work on “the next project set in the Frostpunk universe”, which it plans to launch “as early as 2027”.
Eurogamer recently heard word of this new project from 11 bit CEO Przemysław Marszał, who was talking to me about the history of the studio, and about its future. Today, 11 bit has now confirmed the project in its latest financial results.
With two games released in the Frostpunk series already, and the series’ recent second entry still on wobbly ground with the community – Steam reactions are currently “mixed” – I asked Marszał whether the series had, for the moment, run its course, or whether there was a future for it.
Marszał replied: “We totally believe in Frostpunk. We believe in that IP. We totally believe in that fantasy. I don’t want to spoil it but I can tell you that in about two weeks, you will hear about something, so it’s really soon. We totally believe in the IP and we will definitely work on the IP more.”
He added: “On the Frostpunk 2 front, we are doing a lot of work right now. The patch is coming, the DLCs are coming, etc. We see the problems with the game, we know the strengths of the game, and we are working on that game. But that’s not only it. Frostpunk is definitely one of our key IPs, key games, and we love the IP so, yeah, we will work on that more.”
Incidentally, while we are still waiting for a release date more specific than “summer 2025” for the console versions of Frostpunk 2, I’d be surprised if the upcoming teased announcement was for it – not least because Marszał separately said during our conversation that “the console version is releasing very soon”.
But this new Frostpunk game – could it be an expansion? – is not the only new project the Polish studio is currently working on. “We’ve started working on two other things,” Marszał said. “One thing is connected to Frostpunk and one thing is something new. We totally believe we should do new things.”
Frostpunk 2 was released last September and arrived to glittering critical reviews, my Eurogamer Frostpunk 2 review included, but it struggled – and continues to struggle – to convince fans. “It is a mixed release for us,” said Marszał. “We have a very good game, we have really awesome reviews from the press; then on the other hand, a lot of players aren’t satisfied. There’s a disconnection here. Then on the other hand, we had really awesome sales at the beginning with that game, but now the question is if those sales will be long-term, especially with the mixed reviews we have right now. We understand that it’s a lot of work, still.”
The mixed reaction to Frostpunk 2 highlighted a difficult second half of 2024 for 11 bit Studios which, at the end of the year, announced it had cancelled a full-scale game, Project 8, which it had been working on for several years. It’s a game not much has been known about until now, but I have seen a video of it in action and spoken at length to Marszał about it. I can tell you all about Project 8 in a separate article.