The Long Dark creative director teases 'good things happening in the Unannounced Survival Games space'

Tease for Hinterland Games' new survival game - a piano and fireplace in a dilapidated living room
(Image credit: Raphael van Lierop (Twitter))

The wintry solo survival game The Long Dark has been around a long time—it launched into early access in 2014 and updates have been rolling ever since—but it looks like developer Hinterland Games is preparing to move on to something new. Studio founder and creative director Raphael van Lierop made a return to Twitter last night to drop a brief teaser for an unannounced project.

"Some good things happening in the Unannounced Survival Games space..." Van Lierop tweeted above a 22-second video clip hinting at a vague yet unmistakable sort of unpleasantness.

"Unannounced Hinterland Survival Game," the caption says. "In-engine Pre-Alpha. Unreal 5."

That's not much to go on, but there are at least a few things worth noting. For one, that's a hell of a wind blowing outside, and the windows don't seem to be doing the best possible job of keeping it out.

Rugs on the walls may provide an extra layer of insulation from the chill, or maybe they're to cover up a mess left behind from some early incident of more pointed unpleasantness—either way, there's also a map to be seen, with a few sticky notes presumably denoting points of interest. And on the mirror, a countdown of days: 28 of them, when last it was marked.

It's not really a big secret that Hinterland is working on something new. In fact, the studio's website says very specifically that "we are also working on exciting new projects." But this, as far as I know, is the first real evidence of progress on that front, and as small as it is, I dig it.

"We're not ready to say too much more about this unannounced project at the moment," van Lierop told PC Gamer. "What I will say is that it's our attempt to inject some innovation into the largely stagnant survival genre. It builds on over a decade of our hard-won experience in the genre, and brings our own unique take, and point of view, to many established and new mechanics. 

"We think it'll confirm Hinterland as the pre-eminent creator of survival games today, and for the next decade. We're excited by the reaction to the small tease, and we look forward to sharing more details later this year."

Work on The Long Dark is continuing too: van Lierop said in a December update that The Light at the End of All Things, the fifth and final episode of the game's episodic Wintermute story mode, is set to come out in late 2024. "It won’t be the end of The Long Dark," Van Lierop wrote, "but it’ll be the end of this major arc of the story."

I've reached out to Hinterland to ask if there's anyone who'd like to say more about what the studio has cooking, and I'll update if I receive a reply.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Sunset in the desert in Hello Sunshine
Hello Sunshine is a desert survival sandbox where you live in the literal shadow of the colossus
A survivor in the woods with a weapon and mask
Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)
A fantasy character aiming a bow while a wizard readies a staff to fight monsters
Enshrouded 1.0 target date and 2025 roadmap revealed, new update arriving today, and dynamic water on the way
Someone holding a compass in nature
The first gameplay trailer for PUBG creator's 'brutal' survival game shows off deadly weather and cozy cabins
Trees and rocks in an open world
PUBG's creator is focusing on raising funds for his next project to 'insulate the team' so they don't end up making 'just another PlayerUnknown game'
Project C4 teaser still
It's another day of Disco Elysium-related announcements trying to kneecap each other: Studio ZA/UM has put out a teaser for its first new game since 2019, and it's not Disco Elysium 2
Latest in Adventure
Image of illuminated manuscript-style drawings from the game Pentiment.
Random characters kept swearing in Obsidian's font-obsessed murder-mystery when its procedural error system ran amok: 'Naughtiness abounded'
An image of a corpse with the text "You've been re-educated."
I played the lost videogame sequel to 1984, and came away more nostalgic than ever for gaming's awkward adolescence in 1999
Rosella encounters a satyr in a forest in King's Quest 4
Eagle-eyed streamer spots that Roberta Williams' portrait in King's Quest 4 is based on her author photo on the back of the game box: 'I never noticed it before.'
Myst puzzle game
'You’ve been asking, and we’ve been listening': Myst remake adds a whole new world to the classic adventure, one originally introduced in another overhaul from 25 years ago
The character takes a test in a school room.
Expelled! review
Max, protagonist of Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, stares with trepidation at something off-screen with her friend.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure reportedly a 'large loss' for Square Enix, says analyst, who adds: 'The company's IP fundamentally varies too much between good and bad'
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened