The Long Dark News

[p]The local bartender, Cooper, explains to Astrid what's been going on in Perseverance Mills, and points her in the right direction.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[p]Hello fans,[/p][p][/p][p]We’re thrilled to reveal the Episode Five key art today.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Episode Five poster art showcases the dual struggles of Episode Five, both Mackenzie and Astrid’s journey to find each other, help the survivors of Great Bear Island, and finally crack the secrets of the Quiet Apocalypse.[/p][p][/p][p]This art was created by Kjetil Nystuen, who also created the revised key art and posters for Episodes One to Four that you can see here.[/p][p][/p][p]Episode Five of WINTERMUTE, The Long Dark’s Story Mode, launches on March 31st, 2026, and brings the epic survival saga to its conclusion.[/p][p][/p][p]- The Hinterland Team [/p]

[p]Dear players,[/p][p][/p][p]With the Episode Five launch just around the corner now, it’s time to update you on what to expect over the next few weeks.[/p][p][/p][h3]EPISODE FIVE SCREENSHOTS[/h3][p][/p][p]First, some screenshots taken right out of Episode Five! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]OUR STORY SO FAR…[/h3][p][/p][p]Since it’s been years since we launched the first parts of WINTERMUTE, the team has put together a recap video that covers the main story beats from Episodes One to Four. This is a great refresher for folks who have already played the episodes. And for anyone who hasn’t, this is your reminder that you still have time to get through the first four episodes before March 31st. [/p][p][/p][p]Assume about 30+ hours of play time to get through Episodes One to Four.[/p][p][/p][p]This recap video has spoilers, so if you want to start your WINTERMUTE experience on March 31st and go in completely blind, then please skip this video![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p][/p][h3]LAUNCH TIMINGS[/h3][p][/p][p]Barring unforeseen disasters, you should expect to see Episode Five go live on Steam on March 31st at 10AM Pacific Time. Xbox and PlayStation versions should follow within hours of the Steam launch, as each platform’s servers propagate the update around the world. Please keep in mind that we have no control over when the update eventually comes to you, based on where you are on the globe. We appreciate your patience around this.[/p][p][/p][h3]SWITCH LAUNCH PLANS[/h3][p][/p][p]Since the Switch certification process is so much slower than the other platforms, we will not be able to launch the Switch version of Episode Five on March 31st. Our typical plan with major Switch releases is to ensure the first set of critical issues that show up with launch get fixed in Hotfix 1, and then we submit the hotfixed version to Nintendo for approval. This helps reduce the chances of the Switch build launching broken and then us not being able to fix it quickly due to the 20-30 day turn-around on updates.[/p][p][/p][p]Based on this timing, our hope is to have Episode Five out on Switch by the end of April, but depending on external timings, it could take longer. We’ll keep you posted regarding progress, in our forums and on Bluesky.[/p][p][/p][h3]SETTING EXPECTATIONS[/h3][p][/p][p]Episode Five is a bit different than our other episodes, in that the focus is very much on wrapping up the WINTERMUTE storyline. As such, the world was designed and built around the needs of the story, including having sections playable as Mackenzie and different sections playable as Astrid. This means that while there are certainly open-world sections of the episode, there are also sections that tend to be a bit more linear than our typical work.[/p][p][/p][p]There’s a heavy emphasis on storytelling and cinematics in the episode. I believe the team has done our best work in this area to date. [/p][p][/p][p]Episode play times are always difficult to pin down as they vary so much from player to player, but we are consistently seeing 12-15 hour play times for Episode Five.[/p][p][/p][p]If this is your first time playing WINTERMUTE, please keep in mind that each episode reflects the period during which it was created by the team. Our tools and our skill with them has improved over the years. While I still think the earliest parts of the game are solid and wonderful experiences, they do show their age in some ways. It’s worth playing through them to get the full story, which is concluded beautifully in Episode Five. I encourage you not to simply skip to Episode Five if you are new to the story, but we hope you can play the earlier episodes with their age consideration in mind and be gentle in your assessments.[/p][p] [/p][p]Episode Five answers many questions about previous events in the story, as well as what may be coming in the future. Please think about your fellow TLD fans when you are playing, and try to avoid spoiling the experience for them.[/p][p][/p][p]If you are a content creator (Streamer, YouTuber, etc.), please use Spoiler warnings in any videos you make. If you would like a game key, please use the following link. If you have a favourite content creator you’d like to see play THE LONG DARK, please share that link with them.[/p][p][/p][p]We really hope you all enjoy the experience, and feel it was worth the wait! I certainly can’t influence how you will feel about the game, but I’m very proud of the work the team has done bringing this story to a close.[/p][p][/p][h3]WHAT COMES NEXT?[/h3][p][/p][p]By end of day, the Episode Five build will be locked with no more changes accepted. By this time next week, the build will be submitted to the console platforms so that it can be certified and ready to launch on March 31st. Some of the team will already be on a much-deserved break. The last several months of the episode’s development have certainly been tough on the team. After they rest, there will be hotfixes to be done, and all the other typical parts of development that tend to keep us busy after big releases.[/p][p][/p][p]Beyond that, the end of WINTERMUTE and the completion of Episode Five is the end of an era for Hinterland. Finally, we will be able to talk more freely about our plans and ambitions for the future. Some of those plans relate to ongoing TLD development. Some of those plans relate to our work on BLACKFROST. Some of those plans relate to other unannounced projects.[/p][p][/p][p]I’m looking forward to the team having more breathing room to begin sharing more news about the various things we’re working on. I’ll be excited to hear what you think about our plans for ongoing TLD dev, and for BLACKFROST especially. But for now and the next few weeks, our focus remains fully on getting Episode Five into your hands.[/p][p][/p][p]Many of you have asked about the Episode Five regions, and if or when they will end up being added to Survival Mode. So far I have responded with a “wait and see” approach to this. The episode has many areas and not all of them will be suited to sandbox play. Rest assured we are discussing this and will share more of our plans in the future, but it would be nice if you did not hassle the dev team about this particular topic. As mentioned, Episode Five was built for the story and not all of it was meant to be brought back into Survival Mode afterwards. We hope you can respect our intentions around this.[/p][p][/p][h3]KEEP AN EYE OPEN…[/h3][p][/p][p]In the days between now and March 31st, we’ll be sharing more stuff about Episode Five. More screens, more teasers, and a full launch trailer will go live on Launch Day. We’ll also share more news about Volume 3 of the TLD soundtrack, and some Episode Five merch for pre-order.[/p][p][/p][p]Expect to see updates about all those things on Steam, in our forums, and on Bluesky.[/p][p][/p][h3]THE END IS NEAR[/h3][p][/p][p]I’ll post one more dev diary related to Episode Five, on Launch Day. Until then, please keep the dev team in mind as they wrap up work on the final part of THE LONG DARK’s Story Mode. We can’t wait for you to experience it for yourselves. The end of a decade’s worth of development is finally coming to an end.[/p][p][/p][p]- Raph[/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello Community,[/p][p]We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.51, build 170901.[/p][p][/p][p]This is a Hotfix to THE LONG DARK and THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL MODE and contains multiple bug fixes.[/p][p]
Known Issues[/p][p]The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal. [/p]

• [p]MacOS and Linux - Please note that we have temporarily disabled Additional Shadows for Structures and Terrain to address an engine level visual bug. We are working to fix the problem and will re-enable this visual enhancement as soon as possible. This impacts both MacOS and Linux versions of the game.[/p]
• [p]In some rare cases when launching the game while using HDR, the display may appear completely black. This is caused by brightness somehow being set to 0. Using a non HDR display and setting the brightness to a higher value before swapping back is the only workaround for the time being.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Bug Fixes[/p][p]This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:[/p][p][/p][p]
GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS[/p]

• [p]Critical - Fixed an issue that could cause a loss of profile progress (Badges and Feats), or result in intermittent notifications stating a player's profile failed to load when starting the game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that allowed players to bypass the material requirements to repair structures via Safehouse Customization.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that prevented the Cougar from spawning on save files where it was enabled at a point after first generating the save. Unfortunately, this will not resolve the issue for saves currently experiencing this issue.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that prevented the Improvised Knife, Improvised Hatchet, Survival Knife and Cougar Claw Knife from being used for in-game actions such as Harvesting, opening Canned Food, or Breaking Ice where they could previously be.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. [/p][p][/p][p]
### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###[/p]

[p]Hello Community,[/p][p]We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.50, build 169730.[/p][p][/p][p]This is a Hotfix to THE LONG DARK and THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL MODE containing bug fixes, as well as an upgrade to a major new version of Unity, in anticipation of the Episode Five launch on March 31st, 2026. Episode Five depends on Unity 6, so this pre-launch release will provide time to prove and stabilize the game on the new engine version before the launch.[/p][p]
Known Issues[/p][p]The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal. [/p]

• [p]MacOS - Please note that we have temporarily disabled Additional Shadows for Structures and Terrain to address an engine level visual bug. We are working to fix the problem and will re-enable this visual enhancement as soon as possible. This only impacts the MacOS version of the game.[/p]
• [p]PlayStation 5 - Sometimes during Episode One and Three, a player may encounter a persistent crash in specific locations. Some players find that restarting their console can allow them to proceed past the crash. We are actively attempting to diagnose the cause of this issue.[/p]
• [p]In some rare cases when launching the game while using HDR, the display may appear completely black. This is caused by brightness somehow being set to 0. Using a non HDR display and setting the brightness to a higher value before swapping back is the only workaround for the time being.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Bug Fixes[/p][p]This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:[/p][p][/p][p]CRASHES[/p]

• [p]Mac - Fixed an issue that could cause a crash when exiting to the desktop from WINTERMUTE.[/p]

[p]
GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue that incorrectly allowed items to cure while in containers, resulting in them sometimes going missing once they became cured.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that rarely caused saved game files to become corrupted when exiting a Prepper Cache.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that resulted in stronger than intended player stagger while in the Near Death state. This fix should reduce the amount of camera animation swaying during the low-condition phase.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause the game to soft-lock when loading a file that was saved while traversing with a Travois. Players should find they recover from this broken state gracefully upon loading the affected save file.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause the game to soft-lock when attempting to sleep at a point that the Trader Radio was queued to interrupt sleep, resulting in a black screen.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause the game to soft-lock when a player attempted a Rope Climb with no Stamina, resulting in the player becoming stuck on the rope.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause a soft-lock if a Lantern ran out of fuel while being lit, resulting in a state where the player could move, but not interact with anything.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a rare issue where retrieving a Manufactured Arrow from a Carcass could result in a Simple Arrow being added to the player's Backpack instead.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Transmitters were shown in the Journal->Collections tab even when the Tales From the Far Territory DLC was not installed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that allowed a player to carry the Travois into a Snow Shelter with them.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that prevented the Cougar Claw Knife from being used as a Crafting Tool.[/p]

[p]
ART & ENVIRONMENTS[/p]

• [p]Fixed multiple instances of items being hidden beneath snow by the Terrain Blending setting.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue in Broken Railroad where smoke would not appear from the chimney of the Hunting Lodge when the fireplace was lit.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that resulted in snow effects appearing within the Warden's Office in Blackrock Penitentiary.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that caused visual artifacting where snow and terrain intersect when Terrain Blending and Additional Shadows options were enabled.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where shadow pop-in was very noticeably at long distances.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted the shadow settings in Ash Canyon to prevent certain locations from looking too dark at night.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted the shadow settings inside Blackrock Penitentiary to prevent some locations from looking too dark at night.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with aggressive Terrain Blending in Ash Canyon.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with Terrain Blending on the Blackrock Penitentiary gate which resulted in it popping in and out at certain distances.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the Cougar Hide Wrap that resulted in a noticeable visual anomaly on the Clothing tab when equipped.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue in Broken Railroad Region where a player could get stuck in a terrain trap near the Maintenance Shed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue in Blackrock Region where a player could get stuck in a terrain trap near a Rope Climb.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue in the Pleasant Valley Region Barn interior where a player could get stuck in a terrain trap.
  [/p]

[p]PLATFORM-SPECIFIC[/p]

• [p]Windows Store / Xbox for Windows - Fixed an issue that prevented WINTERMUTE save file names from being entered.[/p]
• [p]Xbox (All versions.) / PlayStation (All versions.) - Fixed an issue with draw distance where some items or terrain would disappear at too low a distance.[/p]
• [p]PlayStation 5 - Fixed an issue that caused some terrain to appear darker or lighter than intended.[/p]
• [p]PlayStation (All versions.) - Fixed an issue that caused the Clothing tab to temporarily flash white when opening the Backpack.[/p]
• [p]PlayStation (All versions.) - Fixed an issue with the Travois that resulted in it disappearing forever. This only occurred if it was deployed and never carried prior to moving through a transition.[/p]
• [p]Windows Store / Steam / EGS - Fixed a rare issue that could result in DLC failing to apply to the main game if the DLC was installed on a separate hard drive.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. [/p][p][/p][p]
### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###[/p]