Just days after an investors report revealed that a new Frostpunk game is coming "as early as 2027," 11 Bit Studios has made it official with the announcement of Frostpunk 1886, a remake that "revisits and expands upon" the original in Unreal Engine 5.
Frostpunk 1886 promises "an evolved take on the harsh, morally challenging survival experience" of the original game, but 11 Bit says it's not just a visual upgrade. The new game will also feature new content, mechanics, laws, and an all-new Purpose path the studio says will offer "a fresh experience even for the most seasoned players."
A potentially bigger deal is the plan to support modding in Frostpunk 1886. 11 Bit Studios said it was impossible to support mods in Frostpunk because of "technical limitations" of the Liquid Engine used in the original game, but moving to Unreal Engine 5 "allows the game to become a living, expandable platform," and will also simplify (and hopefully speed up) the process of creating and releasing DLC.
The announcement of Frostpunk 1886 comes less than a year after the release of Frostpunk 2, but 11 Bit said it does not mean the end of that game: Both games will "evolve side by side—two paths forged in parallel, each carrying the vision of survival into unrelenting cold."
It's not a whole lot to go on at this point, but 11 Bit said more details and a proper look at Frostpunk 1886—that's a reference to Year 0 in the Frostpunk timeline, by the way, which saw the beginning of the devastating Great Frost that ultimately brought about the end of the old world—will be forthcoming "in the months ahead."
