Survivalists out there will be well aware of The Long Dark, Hinterland’s ice-cold survival game and one of the best expressions of the survival genre more broadly. I’ve been dipping in and out since it was in Early Access in 2014-2015, but the game has expanded into much more than I ever thought it would back then.
The full version of The Long Dark dropped in chapters, and the game’s first major expansion, Tales from the Far Territory, followed down the same path. The next expansion, Iron Road, looks set to continue the trend with another multi-part expansion to be released over the next couple of years.
The Iron Road expansion will launch into Early Access today, October 27th, rather than release in a more finished state, because the developers acknowledge the complexity of what they’re making.
The new content will be built around trains, which you will have to keep operational if you want to use them to navigate the game’s new island environment – Hinterland wants to work with the community to make sure this element is carefully balanced and actually, you know, fun.
The expansion is priced according to the current offering. That means that as more is added, the price will rise from $24.99 to $34.99 (or regional equivalent) over the course of its Early Access journey.
As for console players. You lovely lot are going to have to remain patient. The Iron Road expansion is coming to PS5, Switch, and Xbox in due course, with estimates currently targeting arrival at all destinations in the second half of 2027.
There’ll even be an experimental branch for those who like to get involved in the feedback side of things, but we were reminded that, as this is Early Access, you shouldn’t risk any saved games that you aren’t prepared to lose, at least until things are more stable.
