Imagine the lights go out, never to return. Bright aurora flare across the sky, and all humanity's technological might is laid to waste, neutralized in a kind of quiet apocalypse. Everything that has shielded humanity from the disinterested power of Mother Nature is suddenly wrenched from us, dropping us a few links down the food chain. Food and water are scarce. The roads are no longer safe. And winter approaches…

The breathtakingly picturesque Pacific Northwest frames the backdrop for the drama of The Long Dark. You take on the role of William Mackenzie, a newly stranded bush pilot crashed far from the nearest human habitation. Lost, wounded, and with wolves circling, you'll have to quickly master basic wilderness survival skills if you're to last long enough to understand how the world has changed since the aurorae appeared in the sky. And that's just the beginning.

In the first season of this episodic series, players experience this grim new reality through the eyes of bush pilot William Mackenzie, isolated with other survivors in the Northern wilderness as a result of the event. Gameplay emphasizes exploration to gather resources and knowledge about the world, while mastering a deep survival simulation to overcome the myriad natural and man-made hazards of the new frontier. Players will also face difficult moral choices that will affect the outcome of gameplay, story, and ultimately, the course of humanity’s recovery.

Some highlights from the new update:

NEW LANGUAGES

* New Languages selectable from Display Options: French, Swedish, Korean, Chinese (Trad + Simplified), Japanese, Turkish, Norwegian

GAMEPLAY

* A Snow Shelter can now be crafted and deployed from the Radial Menu. This Shelter protects from wind and cold, but leaves you vulnerable to wildlife. 
* First-pass Survival Skills system has been added to the game, with the first test skills implemented. See the Skills section of the Journal for more information. The first Skills are: Firestarting, Cooking, Carcass Harvesting, Ice Fishing, Rifle Firearm
* First-pass Feats system has been added to the game, with the first test Feats implemented. See the Feats section of the Badges menu interface for more information. The first Feats are: Book Smarts, Cold Fusion, Efficient Machine, Fire Master, Free Runner, Snow Walker
* You can now find Research Books in the world. Spending time Researching these books will improve specific Skills.
* Nomad Challenge added. Survive for 3 days each in 15 different locations around the world. 
* Whiteout Challenge added. Stockpile supplies and survive for 30 days as a monster blizzard bears down on you.
* First-pass Almanac feature added (to support Whiteout gameplay).
* It is not longer possible to Craft complex items (requiring a Workbench) in the dark. You can still Craft simple things from the Radial Menu in the dark. You also cannot Repair items in the dark.
* Brandishing now costs Stamina and not Fatigue.
* When breaking down items, the raw materials produced now go directly into your Backpack (vs. being placed on the ground to then be picked up). This will result in fewer bugs relating to harvesting items being stuck behind geo.
* Fixed issues with Wolves sometimes walking in place.
* Warmth from Bedrolls is now taken into account when Resting in Vehicles. (Note: You also get a Warmth bonus from Bedrolls when Resting in the Snow Shelter.)
* You can now see descriptions for active buffs in the First Aid screen.

UI

* New Fonts added to the game.
* Brightness correction now occurs before the Main Menu. Subsequent Brightness changes can be made from the Display settings, accessible from the Main Menu.
* Reduced the number of stacking Damage event icons during Wolf struggles. (Note that the number of Damage events is still the same.)
* Added new Skill section to Journal
* Added new Almanac section to Journal
* Added new Objectives section to the Journal
* Added new Snow Shelter Build/Use/Dismantle UI
* Added Badge art for all Challenges
* Added Badge art for new Feats
* The Badge interface can now be accessed from both the Main Menu and the Pause Menu
* Added notifications for Skill Improvement, Skill level unlock, and Feat unlocks

AUDIO

* Added audio kickers for Skill improvement, Skill level unlock, and Feat unlocks

GENERAL

* Player is warped to a safe location if we detect player has fallen through world
* Screenshot keys no longer force UI to chance from Gamepad to Mouse/Keyboard
* Significantly reduced color banding in low light conditions
* [For Streamers] We've added support for being able to access a second monitor without Alt-Tabbing. (Note that this will become a toggle in a future hotfix.)

The episodic nature of the game's narrative refers to story structure, and not necessarily to the amount of content you're getting in the game, which we estimate to be 5-6 hours for single-player "story mode" and dozens of hours for sandbox "survival mode".

Features:

• Immersive first-person exploration gameplay featuring a stunning, original art style. Players take on the role of franchise protagonist, Will Mackenzie, as he navigates the savage beauty of the Northern Wilderness and faces the hazards of the new “post-digital” frontier.
• Be on the lookout for potential supply caches, all the while using survival skills to overcome hazards introduced by harsh weather, wildlife, lack of food and water, and other survivors.
• Deep survival simulation gameplay where every decision matters. Explore a large open world in search of resources, and balance Condition and Willpower against the needs of your daily survival.
• Morally challenging scenarios that challenge players to answer the question: “How far will you go to survive?” Any survivor you meet in the world can be friend or foe. Will you risk your life to discover what they know and selflessly sacrifice for the common good, or live — and potentially die — by the adage “might makes right”?
• Rich episodic fiction featuring dozens of locations, a cast of memorable characters, and a mature post-disaster storyline inspired by the creative risk-taking we see in many of today’s exciting television series. This isn’t the end of the world, but you can see it from here.
• urvival Story mode provides hours of narrative-driven exploration gameplay where you play as Will Mackenzie, struggling to understand what has happened to the world. Survival Sandbox mode provides potentially hundreds of hours of free-form survival gameplay where you push yourself and your skill to last as long as possible in a variety of survival scenarios.

The Long Dark is currently available on Steam Early Access for $19.99.