The Long Dark: Wintermute And Tales From The Far Territory Update

Is the long wait finally over?

The Long DLC Development

TALES DLC Releasing In December 2024!

The simulation survival game The Long Dark (TLD) has finally released a new update regarding its two DLCs. The developers announced the release date for Tales from the Far Territory and provided new information about the final episode of Wintermute.

Tales from the Far Territory is the survival mode expansion DLC for The Long Dark, which is divided into six episodes. After a six-month development cycle, Hinterland Studio has finally announced the release of Part Six of the DLC, set for December 2024. The fifth episode, Last Horizon, was released on June 25, 2024, introducing new wildlife, including the cougar, as well as new items and tools to aid survival in the Sundered Pass.

The final expansion will bring some of the most significant features to The Long Dark’s survival mode. Here are the key highlights coming in Part Six of the DLC:

⚫︎ The Trader – Trade items with other players by meeting this NPC’s demands

⚫︎ Safehouse Customization – Customize and decorate the interiors of your safehouse

⚫︎ Cougar 2.0 – Improvements to the cougar, with an option to remove it from the game (it was originally removed in the fifth episode following player feedback)

⚫︎ Instant Camera – Take photos anywhere in the game; images can be crafted and hung inside the safehouse

⚫︎ Global Wildlife Revamp – Adjustments to wildlife spawn rates and locations across the entire game

The Tales from the Far Territory DLC was released on December 6, 2022. The developers initially promised fans that the DLC would be “releasing in multiple parts over the course of a 12-month campaign.” This meant the full DLC was expected to conclude by December 2023. However, the original timeline was not met, as the episodes were released months apart. Part Four, Buried Echoes, was only released in December 2023. Despite the delays, Tales from the Far Territory is nearing its conclusion, with Part Six scheduled for release this December.

Check out TLD’s Steam page announcement for more information!

This DLC is available on all platforms for $19.99 USD.

Wintermute Final Episode Pushed To 2025

TLD’s final episode of its story mode is delayed once again. Wintermute, The Long Dark's story mode, is finally (and hopefully) set to reach its finale in 2025. In their latest announcement, Hinterland Studio stated that the conclusion of the Tales from the Far Territory DLC in December 2024 will allow the entire team to “be heads-down focused on finishing Episode Five and releasing it ASAP next year.”

“As a recap, Episode Five, titled ‘The Light at the End of All Things,’ concludes the WINTERMUTE storyline and wraps up all the various threads introduced in the previous four episodes. The episode takes us to the Suzuki Radio Telescope, the enigmatic Atwood, Perseverance Mills, reveals the contents of Astrid’s mysterious hardcase, and brings to a head the conflict between Mackenzie and Mathis. You play as both Astrid and Mackenzie in this episode. It’s our biggest episode to date, and will be the end of the Story Mode for THE LONG DARK.”

The most recent progress update on Wintermute Episode Five was announced in December 2023. Episode Four of this DLC was released on October 7, 2021, drawing criticism from players who had purchased it. One Steam review stated, “First episode came out in 2017, this is clearly the last thing the devs care about for the games development despite it being one of the first things released.”

Check out and follow the game’s Steam page for more information about Wintermute’s final episode. We can only hope the developers are crafting a well-thought-out conclusion and delivering the well-deserved ending the story mode needs.

If you'd like to experience The Long Dark's story mode, you can purchase the base game (which includes survival mode) along with the Wintermute DLC for $34.99 USD on all platforms.

Why The Long Wait?

The developers cited multiple factors for the wide gaps between the release dates of the DLC parts and episodes. They explained that the release of a roadmap set certain expectations that they couldn’t meet due to the time spent hotfixing each part and episode, as well as the impact of the global pandemic, which significantly delayed the development of future content.

The development of the Wintermute DLC was particularly affected by the pandemic. In their Episode Four release announcement on October 7, 2023, the devs stated that “developing the majority of this episode during a global pandemic has been a challenging experience to say the least.”

For the Tales DLC, the developers explained, “With each Part release, there have been issues that have forced the team into a hotfixing cycle which has taken away from the progress around the next Part, thus prolonging the development of each part beyond their expectations.

Despite the delays, the developers assured fans that they are “well aware of all the delays that have got us to this point,” and feel the pressure to create and release content that is “worth the wait.”