The journey of The Long Dark has been a long one, beginning its early access phase on Steam in 2014 and officially launching the survival mode in 2017. However, it wasn’t until now that the episodic story mode, named “Wintermute”, is nearing its completion with its fifth and final episode.

Hinterland Studio has already indicated that this episode is set to be released sometime this year. Creative Director Raphael van Lierop explained the challenges behind the development of this ambitious episode, citing it as their most challenging effort yet. He mentioned in a Steam update:

“The episode is the most ambitious we’ve built so far… it has quite a few systems we haven’t used in other episodes, so it’s proving to be quite challenging for the team.”

Fans have been waiting for this concluding chapter, with excitement building over the extended content and expansive world. Van Lierop highlighted that this episode promises to bring two to three times the cinematic and story content compared to the previous episode, making it three to four times the size of Episode Four.

He further elaborated that the project is shifting focus to narrative depth, indicating that this episode will feature a more linear mission structure compared to its predecessors, while still introducing entirely new locations to explore.

As the completion of the story mode approaches, Hinterland is also preparing visual enhancements slated for release in late May, showcasing improvements such as colored shadows and enhanced graphical features.

After Episode Five launches, the studio plans to redirect its focus towards the upcoming Blackfrost: The Long Dark 2, while also supporting the original with ongoing updates and exploring opportunities for further expansion in the future.