11 Bit Studios recently announced Frostpunk: 1886, a complete remake of the beloved 2018 title intended to appeal to veterans and newcomers alike. But with a sequel already out in the wild, both games will exist and evolve in parallel.
But what made the studio return to the first entry instead of developing another sequel? At Gamescom Latam 2025, we had the chance to sit down with senior PR manager Konrad Adamczewski and communications lead Gabriela Siemienkowicz to find out.
Expanding Upon The Legacy Of A Beloved Series
“For us, Frostpunk was always more than a numbered series,” Siemienkowicz tells me. “Even though we’re still updating and developing Frostpunk 2, the first entry is still so popular that we wanted to expand more upon it, as the community keeps returning to it, even after seven years.
It was also something we wanted to do due to the previous engine that we used, which had quite a lot of disadvantages and wouldn’t let us develop the game in the way we wanted to back then. It wouldn’t let us do mod support, it was a nightmare to port to consoles, and so on, so it was always in the back of our minds until we started using Unreal Engine to develop Frostpunk 2 and realized it was the way to go.”
Of course, since it was released just months ago in September, Frostpunk 2 is still going strong, with a supportive community to boot. 11 bit Studios doesn’t plan to stop developing for it anytime soon; instead, it has plans to grow both games simultaneously with new updates and support.
“This is a great opportunity for us to finally develop and expand Frostpunk in ways we couldn’t before,” explains Siemienkowicz, “but Frostpunk 2 still has its roadmap and plan for years to come, so now we can treat the series as a platform where both titles can grow together.
We put a lot of emphasis on respecting the legacy of the original game, so 1886 will be 70 percent Frostpunk, but the remaining 30 percent will be new content; for example, while the old paths are still in the game, we’re adding a new one that fans can enjoy for hours, and a lot of more stuff that will make the title worth revisiting for fans of the first game.”
Even though both games will keep evolving side to side, there’s no direct interaction between them so far, and there’s still a 30-year gap to explore between the main stories of both games, something that could be revisited in the future or even with upcoming updates.
“We just announced 1886, so I feel we are not at the stage yet to share or reveal what type of potential intertwining could occur between the titles,” says Siemienkowicz, “but one thing I can answer is that we want to put a big emphasis on the community around them.
During the Frostpunk 2 beta, we looked at the feedback from the community. There was a mix of things we wanted to add, but we also wanted to listen and involve the players in the creation of the game,” she explains. “So, for 1886, we want to show a lot of BTS content to test the waters, see how the playerbase reacts, and maybe their response will take us there!”
“One thing that we could say,” adds Adamczewski, “is that the Frostpunk 2 director, Jakub Stokalski, would love to make an RPG game in the universe, so maybe that could be an idea down the line, filling the gap in the timeline like that would be great.”
A Deep And Immersive Storytelling
Something that’s always stuck with me is how both Frostpunk games interact with the player through in-game ethical decisions. As our very own Tessa Kaur puts it in their review, being a dictator makes the game easier, but it doesn’t feel great, and how these decisions can entirely force you to deviate from the playthrough you had in mind never ceases to amaze me.
This is also true for other games from this studio, like This War Of Mine, Indika, and The Alters, which touch on themes like religion, survival during war times, and living with the choices of our past. I always wanted to know what compels 11 Bit to pursue such things.
“It’s been important since the company was created,” says Siemienkowicz. “In all our projects, we want to create something meaningful, and we want people to feel something; of course, that won’t always be a good feeling, and very often you’ll feel sadness, and that’s okay.
Games are an art form, and while I wouldn’t say we’re here changing lives, I think it’s important to mix entertainment with meaningful, thought-provoking questions. I think it’s in the DNA of the whole team that we don’t want you to be a better player when you play our games; we want you to be a better person. And I feel that very simple sentence is a good start, regardless of the genres we touch.”
The exploration of those themes shows that the studio prioritizes a deep and immersive storytelling that allows the audience to have unique experiences, even while so many others in the industry shy away from that.
“I also think that, with time, that mindset trickled down to our publishing wing as well,” explains Adamczewski. “One of our published games, Indika, for example, tells the story of a nun who hears the voice of the devil and sees visions, with all that comes with it. And while religion criticism is a very delicate topic and not often apparent in games, we didn’t want to back off from such a game, especially not out of fear.”
“Yeah, that’s a good example because even though the game is questioning religion as a topic, it’s not doing it in a self-imposing way,” adds Siemienkowicz. “We’re not going to tell you whether religions are good or bad, we want to tell a story that helps you come up with your thoughts on that. With Frostpunk, people joke about sending the children to the mines, but as you hit the ending and we show you all the consequences of your actions during your playthrough, we want to leave you with one question: Was it worth it?”
Frostpunk 1886
- Released
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2027
- Developer(s)
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11 Bit Studios
- Publisher(s)
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11 Bit Studios
- Franchise
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Frostpunk
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