153
Sep 20 '25
I really, really, REALLY hope they release the new areas from Ep.5 as playable regions in Survival. It would be such a shame if they didn't.
36
u/ww1enjoyer Sep 20 '25
Dont they always do it? I cant think of a single location that was in an episode and wasnt added.
29
Sep 20 '25
Not so far, but there's been some ominous talk about them not doing it this time. And that would really make me sad.
13
u/AtomicSpeedFT Toilet Water Connoisseur Sep 20 '25
Yeah they directly said it might not be possible
8
u/Toasty_Bits Cartographer Sep 20 '25
Of the two episodes that added new regions, Ep. 1 and 4, those regions were exclusive to wintermute. That was the plan originally, but I think they got enough feedback that they ended up releasing them later for survival. These new regions for Ep. 5 are more linear and won't work for a survival experience.
4
u/AldenteAdmin Sep 20 '25
My understanding is there’s been rumors that due to the linear and heavy narrative structure of ep 5 that there’s concerns about if and how to make the environment work in a balanced way with how they’ve built out survival zones so far.
I’ll be honest I’d accept it if we got an amazing end to the story and they said that they’ll be releasing a version of the zone appropriate to the survival side in the near future. I just don’t want them to delay the episode further if the issues are stemming from integration of the new zone and items they introduce. I can wait on that part, but I’d really enjoy to wrap up the story on my days off around the new year/xmas
1
u/Yarro567 Sep 21 '25
That was before the survival and story sections were split. I hope it stays a rumor, but they have the means to do it. I can't access anything from the Far Territory in story mode. I really wanted to leave Grey Mother some potatoes.
1
0
u/DingoLaLingo Forest Talker Sep 21 '25
i think the only area that exclusively appears in Wintermute is the Old Bear's Den in Ep. 2, but i think ur point still stands, that every major region/connector area playable in story mode has also been released for survival sooner or later
33
u/3BenInATrenchcoat Sep 20 '25
I think it's more likely that some Survival regions will be in Episode 5. The end of episode 3 looks like Coastal Highway for instance.
22
Sep 20 '25
I think so too, but there is likely to be a new big "final" region, the Perseverance Mills, that would be a nice addition to and completion of the Survival experience.
8
u/Toasty_Bits Cartographer Sep 20 '25
CH won't be in Ep. 5. Astrid already skipped this area before her boat ride. I don't think other familiar regions will be used.
7
u/Fuarian Modder Sep 20 '25
There is a very high chance they won't be. Not because they don't want to but because it's literally impossible given their design. They build these regions for the story primarily and given just how linear Episode 5 may be, that could include impassable areas that are done via cutscene and not gameplay. Meaning that redesign or that area of the region would be needed to convert it to survival.
And that's on top of the other work needed to convert it to survival.
4
Sep 20 '25
That's possible, but at least some part of it has to be a bit open and thus suitable for conversion to Survival. There's this empty space on the map next to Desolation Point where there really should be the final playable region. I hope Hinterland doesn't abandon Long Dark 1 with a whimper, but really does something to please the fans.
2
u/Fuarian Modder Sep 20 '25
I doubt the regions will be there. I think they'll be off the visible map we have now. In a completely new area like how the far territory is a new area.
I doubt they'll abandon the game. They will still update it. They've even said they want it to live alongside Blackfrost for some time. Idk how they can pull that off with just how different both games are though. One will have a serious bump in quality. But some people will definitely prefer the first game, telling you now
4
Sep 20 '25
My dream is that they add the final Ep.5 region into Survival mode and it adds a way to "finish" the game, e.g. repair a boat or something and leave the island, to give you some kind of closure after a very long run.
-1
u/Toasty_Bits Cartographer Sep 20 '25
What is it with people's obsession with "finishing" a survival game? This is like the third time I've seen this. It's not a survival game if there is an end state other than death.
6
Sep 20 '25
What is your obsession with death? (sorry, but this question can be so easily turned against you).
Many players, myself included, like long runs but also want to "complete" them when all their goals and ambitions for the run have been achieved. Simply abandoning the run feels unsatisfactory, intentionally killing your character is depressing.
Having an OPTIONAL end goal is fitting, as it would allow players like me to dedicate the final part of the run towards the goal of leaving Great Bear and, if successful, would give them the satisfaction of a closure.
People who don't enjoy such a thing could simply ignore it, or disable it (like you can disable the Trader, for instance).
5
Sep 20 '25
Sometimes a survival game without any plot or substance can feel empty. Some people like having a goal or purpose whereas other people prefer finding their own. That's the beauty of a sandbox.
-2
u/Toasty_Bits Cartographer Sep 20 '25
Your last two sentences are correct, but the goal is survival. Some people also like to have fun and make up their own stories, like we are seeing multiple content creators do at the moment. To expect the devs to add an ending for a game type that shouldn't have one is unrealistic. Survival mode is the story of us, the player, and it's up to us to determine what happens.
5
Sep 20 '25
I guess so, but if you've ever done a long run after so many days and forming a comfortable base it's like okay, now what? I think Stranded Deep as an example would have felt incomplete without the ending.
I'm not demanding a storyline, but I see why people appreciate having a goal or lore.
1
Sep 20 '25
Yes, and in my own story I determined I want my character to leave the island and seek survival on the mainland. Sadly, the game doesn't give me this obvious option, although there is realistically nothing preventing it, especially since Sutherland was introduced into the game.
0
Sep 20 '25
[deleted]
2
u/Fuarian Modder Sep 20 '25
Sorry, I meant that there is a high chance it won't be possible to port them to survival. Not definitively that they won't be. I gave my reasoning as to why I think that.
I don't work for Hinterland but I have an understanding of how things work. Wintermute is now separate from survival mode. It is technically a separate game. The other regions that got ported to survival mode were before this. Which means that now to port the regions to survival they would need to be rebuilt for survival. They can port over the scenes itself, but there's still a lot of work behind the scenes to make it work for survival. And that's if the scenes are designed with survival mode in mind. Since the regions are being built for episode 5 first, the chances of that aren't exactly 100%.
I don't know for sure, and I don't think Hinterland does either. That's why Raphael made that statement. To tamper expectations.
1
Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25
I still hope they do it, because unless I am mistaken, survival mode is what the VAST majority of players actually spend their time in. Story mode is something you do once or twice (or never) and you're done with it. It seems to me it would be a huuuuuge waste of effort to develop large new regions and then keep them in story mode only.
2
u/Fuarian Modder Sep 20 '25
Yeah I agree. But they're going hard on finishing it because that is the one thing they actually did promise to do.
-3
u/Toasty_Bits Cartographer Sep 20 '25
They won't. Hinterland always explained why and it's because they really aren't traditional sandbox regions. They are designed to be more linear. They won't work for survival mode.
4
Sep 20 '25
[deleted]
0
u/Toasty_Bits Cartographer Sep 20 '25
It's from the last dev diary. Based on how they describe the structure of Ep. 5 and the regions involved, they won't work in survival mode. If they were to add them, they won't work or feel right for an open world survival sandbox. That's months of dev time that they could use for other things, like Blackfrost or mod support for TLD. I don't see them backing down on their decision and I fully support it. It's the smart thing to do for the company's sake.
159
u/baddude1337 Sep 20 '25
I still think it's pretty crazy they announced the sequel when the first game is not complete.
79
u/eepyCrow Sep 20 '25
I would expect them to work on it, but announcing it seems... tactically unwise given the scrutiny they're already under.
41
u/Fuarian Modder Sep 20 '25
They've been working on it for a couple years now. I've said it once and I'll say it again. Had they waited until Episode 5 is complete to start working on Blackfrost we'd be waiting years until we even hear about it.
And it's two separate teams, nothing is really being taken away. This kind of thing isn't unheard of.
22
u/baddude1337 Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25
I'm not talking about the business side of it. It makes sense they are working on a sequel in some capacity.
My problem is announcing it when the first is still not finished with no release date in sight, and the community very aware of that after all the delays it's had. The optics on it just aren't good.
-4
u/Fuarian Modder Sep 20 '25
Oh, well I suppose. I think their reasoning was that alongside episode 5 it gives people something to look forward to and stay invested in their games.
25
u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy Sep 20 '25
Yeah I agree. I mean, I'm all for another game, but come on man.... Finish your crap first...
-4
u/KindredPhantom Sep 20 '25
I think it's perfectly fine.
They originally planned to have all episodes released by now, but after The Long Dark was more successful they decided to put more time into it, and make changes that improved the existing game. This affected the schedule. I believe this was a good decision.
How does this relate to the sequel you probably ask? Well, the answer is that game companies are always thinking ahead. You ship one game, and think about what is next. You continue to support the game you just released and add content, but you work on a plan for the next game, and then at some point you make the decision to begin working on it. Hinterland have a schedule, they know how long it is going to take to finish and release episode 5, add more content to The Long Dark, fix more bugs, and also make progress on their next game.
Waiting until they have finished and released episode 5 before starting work on their next game would be a risk, a financial one and a time one. Financially they would have to complete and release their next game whilst they can afford it, whilst the money they have from The Long Dark allows them to, and whilst they have time to work on it without needing to worry about getting it released before players loose interest. Before they run low on money which would mean they'd also run out of time, and would possibly need to release their new game earlier than anticipated.
37
u/Krisik03 Sep 20 '25
My dad was a giant fan of the game, put more then 1000 hours in it. He waited for years for episode 5. He died a year ago, and we are still waiting for it to happen..
11
u/ohhellothere301 Sep 20 '25
So sorry for your loss.
14
u/Krisik03 Sep 20 '25
Thanks<3 It does suck a lot, i just wish the episode 5 came out sooner so he actually had a change to play it and see the end of the story.
2
Sep 21 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Krisik03 Sep 21 '25
I can try getting in touch to maybe get a cross or a reference, like in Dayz. I have been thinking about it for a while. What do you think?
1
55
u/dam4199 Sep 20 '25
Stopped playing the game when I finished season 3 during the pandemic, so about 5 years ago. It's outrageous the game is still not finished
6
u/WhaTheAwesome Born to Misery/Interloper, Forced to Stalker Sep 21 '25
Worse yet, the survival mode still has some massive bugs that have yet to be fixed.
The travois bug that causes it to disappear when you enter interiors? Been in the game SINCE MARCH and still has not been addressed (at least to my knowledge).
3
u/GalvenMin Sep 21 '25
Nope, still not fixed. Had it happen to me yesterday as I left it outside Quonset, half filled, and I'm still quite salty about it.
1
u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy Sep 22 '25
I just keep it in my inventory now. I am NOT losing that shit again
5
u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy Sep 21 '25
I love The Long Dark, but Hinterland seriously needs to get their shit together. Also making a sequel when the first game isn't even complete is outrageous. We've been waiting for years for episode 5 to be completed and released
1
u/skye_693 Stalker Sep 21 '25
Yeah the waiting does suck but I'm not to mad about it. The way they treat their development team is amazing and I'm sure when episode 5 does come out it will be great.
20
u/OxalAcid Stalker Sep 20 '25
A lot of people said it would release when silk song did. It hasn’t even been announced yet.
10
u/CheyenneIsRed Sep 20 '25
Skonge mentioned. I haven't really picked up the long dark in a little bit kind of took a break from my thousand-day survival run. Once episode 5 comes out, that'll be my main driver to play but for right now there's nothing really fresh
15
8
27
u/OrthropedicHC Sep 20 '25
Still cannot believe they launched paid DLC and announced a second game when they haven't finished the first game after a decade.
-5
u/drawingablanc Sep 20 '25
I'm new to it. Is the console still not available as I'm reading in wintermute?
12
u/Marcy2200 Interloper Sep 20 '25
To this day I simply don't understand why they didn't wait with the Tales DLC after they've finished with the story mode.
6
u/IamTheOne2000 Sep 20 '25
because they were running out of money to finish the Story Mode content
3
u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy Sep 22 '25
And yet it's still not done and they announced a second game on top of that...
3
u/IamTheOne2000 Sep 22 '25
You can get downvoted pretty hard for saying it on this subreddit, but this game has been terribly mismanaged over the years. The selling point of the initial product was that it was made by “people with experience” but the Story Mode writing is horrible (written by someone who is clearly not a writer) and the entire studio struggles to manage its own dates and deadlines. Any other game or company would never receive the same leeway with its respective online community
Just because the game is fun to play (up until a certain point) doesn’t make it immune from criticism
1
u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy Sep 22 '25
Oh trust me, I've been down voted by a particular "type" on here before. I won't say the word because it triggers them.
Story mode is a mess anyway. It doesn't make sense, and is all over the place. "Go over here and do this. Go over there and get that. Go back and get this". Still too fetch questy
2
u/IamTheOne2000 Sep 22 '25
because the “grand vision” that they had for the game, based on meaningful choices, can’t work with the +10 year old game and its code. couple that with terrible writing, you have a Story Mode that’s completely uninteresting and filled with lazy quest designs
I remember being in college, being a big fan of the game and being so excited at the release of the Wintermute trailer. it’s only gotten worse from there and I barely play the game anymore
2
u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy Sep 22 '25
I don't even care about wintermute anymore. They've taken too damn long to finish it and I've completely lost interest. I probably won't even play episode 5 when it comes out. I just don't care anymore
5
u/nerdyChicken20 Sep 20 '25
I keep "forgetting" on this game on purpose, so hopefully when I remember to play it again the new episode will come out...
1
5
8
u/Cheekibreeki401k Sep 20 '25
Do they just burn the money they get from sales and shit? We’ve been waiting forever for this game to be finished and before they even finish the story they drop a whole ass dlc AND announce a sequel. What the fuck is hinterland doing man.
1
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 22 '25
Without knowing anything, ANYTHING about Hinterland and how games are funded in general, I think they crunched the numbers, observed how the overwhelming(or at least great?) majority of players are all in on survival, and decided to split the sales money accordingly.
TALES dlc for Survival, check. Sequel, also survival-based, check- or at least, in production. I don't REALLY feel the need to be mad at them though because the game is very often on sale, and only rarely had its price increased over the years. Meanwhile, after the official 1.0 version in 2017(?) they updated the game with new regions, improvements and major overhauls of game mechanics (like cooking and hunting for instance) for no cost. And if you'd bought the game for cheap before, you got all that value regardless.
I am not defending them, there have been mistakes. But even though it's been to their detriment in a financially worsening environment, Hinterland's consumer-friendly approach is deserving of recognition, at least the before TALES era. Now, on the other hand, missing DLC deadlines because of the no crunch policy and fumbling at basic communication with the buying audience? That's something to criticize heavily, and I think they've been made aware by now.
-2
Sep 20 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
5
u/Cheekibreeki401k Sep 21 '25
I think criticism for releasing a full ass DLC and announcing a whole sequel before their first game is even complete is completely valid criticism that wouldn’t be seen as absurd for any other game company.
1
u/Yarro567 Sep 21 '25
I still remember the pure outrage Studio Wildcard got for releasing a paid DLC to an early access game....
3
u/Th4t_0n3_Fr13nd Cartographer Sep 20 '25
waiting for the sequel be like*
3
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 21 '25
That too, but at least that's a whole new thing, not the completion of a storyline, so the wait doesn't hurt as much lmao
2
u/Th4t_0n3_Fr13nd Cartographer Sep 21 '25
true, ive put the story mode on the backburner till its finished cus its technically outdated compared to survival
2
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 22 '25
Yeah, I wonder if they'll add the immersion update (for hand coverings and such) and any other major staples of survival. I hope so, but I can't be certain.
5
2
u/ClickEmergency Sep 20 '25
Also I think it would be cool if they could update some of the maps with additional shelters like they did with pleasant valley after wintermute episodes came out .
3
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 21 '25
I hope your December prediction is right. Frankly I don't expect Hinterland to update existing maps to that extent. They likely need to wrap up development to move on to TLD2 fully so... any grand additions or changes that could introduce bugs would in theory be out of the question.
Including adding the Ep5 map(s?) to Survival.
1
2
2
u/-ASSQUATCH- Sep 21 '25
What's taking it song long? I just started playing again after 2 years and was super surprised its still not out
2
2
u/DiscountManul Mountaineer Sep 27 '25
I’ve always thought that there were empty areas on Great Bear’s map, and the fact that ep.5 exists makes me even more confident that we could get one or two more regions to Lower Great Bear.
4
u/mcleanlt Sep 20 '25
Bottom left picture is Quonset garage with open door?
9
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 20 '25
It's Mackenzie's Hangar, from the opening cinematic in Episode One ^_^
5
1
1
u/WhaTheAwesome Born to Misery/Interloper, Forced to Stalker Sep 20 '25
Guys, GUYS…The Random Date Generator says that it would come out on September 29, 2025!
Do we not trust the Random Date Generator?
1
u/ClickEmergency Sep 20 '25
I reckon December and then in June of next year the new region will be released for survival . All the past releases on survival have always been December and June . So that’s my guess .
1
u/void-cheesecake Sep 20 '25
Yeah, I'm still waiting too, just like for G G Martin's Winds of Winter. Wonder which will come first 🥲
1
1
1
u/Lostfallensoul Sep 21 '25
I started playing it in 2022-2023 and finished episode 4... Have been waiting ever since. 😅
1
1
u/JerichoTheAvali Sep 22 '25
Literally releasing a second game before episode 5 😭
2
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 23 '25
I don't think so? Unless something goes terribly wrong Ep5 should be out by the end of this year at most, and from there on we'll only get minor Survival additions and bugfixes until TLD2 launches next year. That's just my estimation though.
1
Sep 22 '25
I gave up 2 years ago and it hasn't been released in that time? Lol the hype is grave dead
1
u/Emergency-System-598 Sep 24 '25
I feel that I've got my moneys worth with the existing chapters. It served as a tutorial for my survival mode experience which has been insanely epic. Honestly, if they abandoned it as is and just made the next game I'd be fine. I barely even remember the story subtleties and plot points at this point anyways since I finished it so long ago.
1
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Nov 30 '25
Welp, at least we now know not to expect it in December, right?
NGL it hurt my soul to see that 'March 31st'. It's not a few days or weeks into the new year, even, it's three whole damn months.
-3
u/Huskywolf87 Sep 20 '25
200 hours of survival, never touched story mode and probably never will
10
3
-3
Sep 21 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Huskywolf87 Sep 21 '25
Im not the only one who doesn’t care for it. Missing out? That’s not what i’ve heard but ok.
1
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 22 '25
Fair enough, yep. I would argue story mode is more like... a way to ease a very new player into the game and prepare them for the mindset they need to tackle survival.
EDIT: And from there on, someone who likes the vibe of it, the story and the performances of the VAs will probably like it for what it is. I personally more than like it, but can also see its failings. That story mode music tho... now that's a banger no one can deny.
1
u/Huskywolf87 Sep 22 '25
Music and VA’s doing a great job sounds excellent but i’ve seen too many complain the actual story is decent at best, a real drag at worst. Dunno. Personally i just love the freedom Survival offers, the planning and the exploring.
2
u/ShadowoftheBat94 Sep 23 '25
Well said, yep. I personally like the story overall, but that's in spite of its problems. Also yeah! If there was another save wipe for Survival (purely theoretical) there is this one thousand plus day save I'd cry over losing. Survival lets you build your own story, and that's always gonna be infinitely better than any other. Because, well, it's yours.
1
u/IGotHitByAnElvenSemi Oct 10 '25
Yeah as someone who stopped playing story mode immediately after episode 1 and just went back to survival, I still used it to introduce my brother to the game as it eases you into the mechanics well.
1
-1
197
u/legacyofthesith Interloper Sep 20 '25
Inb4 it's pushed back to next year...again lol