What changed in The Long Dark in 2025

Identified an issue where launching the game with HDR could result in a black screen due to brightness settings. Workaround provided.

Fixed an issue that allowed players to bypass material requirements for repairing structures via Safehouse Customization.

Fixed an issue that prevented the Cougar from spawning on save files where it was enabled after the initial save generation.

Resolved a critical issue that could cause a loss of profile progress (Badges and Feats) or intermittent notifications about profile loading failures.

Fixed an issue that prevented the Improvised Knife, Improvised Hatchet, Survival Knife, and Cougar Claw Knife from being used for various in-game actions.

Temporarily disabled Additional Shadows for Structures and Terrain on MacOS and Linux to address a visual bug.

Player could get stuck.

To prevent certain locations from looking too dark at night.

Could result in a Simple Arrow being added to the player's Backpack instead.

Items incorrectly allowed to cure while in containers, resulting in them going missing.

When the fireplace was lit.

Fix should reduce camera animation swaying during low-condition phase.

Players should recover from this broken state gracefully upon loading the affected save file.

In Blackrock Penitentiary.

Resulted in it popping in and out at certain distances.

Player could move but not interact with anything.

Could result in DLC failing to apply to the main game if installed on a separate hard drive.

Player could get stuck near a Rope Climb.

Some terrain appeared darker or lighter than intended.

Temporarily flashed white when opening the Backpack.

When Terrain Blending and Additional Shadows options were enabled.

Resulted in a black screen.

Resulted in player becoming stuck on the rope.

In anticipation of the Episode Five launch on March 31st, 2026.

Player could get stuck near the Maintenance Shed.

To prevent some locations from looking too dark at night.

Some items or terrain would disappear at too low a distance.

Resulted in it disappearing forever if deployed and never carried prior to moving through a transition.

First teaser for WINTERMUTE Episode Five: 'The Light at the End of All Things' shared.

Episode Five is set to launch on March 31st, 2026.

Extra months allocated for cinematic work, soundtrack, and mission polish.

Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass cave transition that resulted in noticeably darkened sections and incorrect terrain blending.

Fixed an issue where some 'Ambient Effects' such as blowing snow would remain active when this option was disabled.

Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass that resulted in some areas displaying noticeably darkened sections with 'Additional Shadows - Structures' enabled.

Fixed an issue in Blackrock Prison that resulted in some buildings failing to cast shadows with 'Additional Shadows' enabled.

Fixed an issue at Trapper's Cabin where items could become lost under the snow due to the recently adjusted terrain.

Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet that resulted in the ocean water popping in and out based on the angle it was viewed at.

Fixed an issue with the Lost and Found Box near the tunnel to Forlorn Muskeg in Broken Railroad that resulted in it remaining invisible unless very close to its location.

Fixed an issue where the 'Framerate Cap' slider would not remain at the desired setting, nor obey the value set.

Fixed an issue that resulted in the Survivor having invisible arms when wearing the Festive Sweater.

Fixed an issue that resulted in quartered animal bags disappearing after Harvesting a portion of meat from them.

Fixed an issue where powerline cables and lights would not cast shadows.

Fixed an issue where some rail cars would exhibit 'Terrain Blending' when there was no snow beneath.

Fixed an issue that prevented WINTERMUTE saves from being renamed.

Fixed an issue that caused some snow patches to shift when viewed from particular distances or angles.

Fixed an issue in WINTERMUTE Episodes Three and Four that resulted in mistimed subtitles during the recap videos.

Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination that resulted in the interior of buildings being noticeably darker than expected with 'Additional Shadows - Structures' enabled.

Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass that resulted in the interior of buildings being noticeably darker than expected with 'Additional Shadows - Structures' enabled.

Fixed an issue on Mac where 'Motion Blur' caused extremely blurred visuals during harvesting.

Fixed a subset of cases that could result in the Travois despawning and being placed in a nearby Lost and Found Box.

Addressed an issue that caused items and structures to appear invisible, or partially visible.

Resolved issues with Lost and Found boxes being inaccessible in Bleak Inlet and Keeper's Pass.

Adjusted Tales From the Far Territory cooked fish decay rates to align with non-DLC cooked fish.

Tuned several Canned food items to last longer in the game world.

Temporarily reverted to allow Ruined food items to be used in Cooking recipes.

Resolved an issue that made Sutherland's fifth Special Request impossible to complete.

Added features like Coloured Shadows, Terrain Blending, and Improved Anti-Aliasing for enhanced graphics.

Resolved an issue where placed items could intersect with chain-link fencing.

Adjusted outdoor decay rates for Canned Dog Food, Condensed Milk, and Tomato Soup.

Resolved an issue causing large sections of prison buildings to disappear from certain angles.

Resolved an issue where Rosehip bushes were found floating above ground.

Canned Peaches, Carrots, and Potatoes can now be obtained through the Trading system.

A fix for memory-related crashes in Docked mode on Switch has been implemented, using dynamic resolution scaling.

Ruined food items can no longer be used in cooking; condition decay rates for specific food items have been rebalanced.

All parts of the TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY DLC are now complete and available on all platforms.

A planned Quality of Life update has been postponed until after Episode Five ships.

Rare food items have been added as trade items with Sutherland, and costs have been tuned for better accessibility.

Episode Five will feature significantly more cinematic and story content, with a larger game world and new narrative elements.

The Long Dark will be upgraded for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X with visual enhancements, expected by mid to late June.

Visual enhancements are complete and will be released in a staggered pattern, starting with PC, followed by consoles.

Mod support and enhanced custom settings have been pushed off until after Episode Five is released.

The team will shift focus to completing Episode Five of WINTERMUTE, expected to release in 2025.

Future updates will include tools and documentation for modding, allowing players to create their own content.

A suite of visual enhancements targeted at higher-end platforms, to be released in the new year.