The Long Dark

The Long Dark
Developer(s)Hinterland Studio
Publisher(s)Hinterland Studio
Director(s)Raphael van Lierop
Designer(s)Raphael van Lierop
Alan Lawrance
Writer(s)Raphael van Lierop
Composer(s)Cris Velasco
Sascha Dikiciyan
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
ReleaseLinux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
August 1, 2017
Nintendo Switch
September 17, 2020
Genre(s)Survival
Mode(s)Single-player

The Long Dark is a first-person survival video game developed and published by Hinterland Studios. The player assumes the role of crash-landed bush pilot Will Mackenzie who must survive the frigid Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. The game received seed financing from the Canada Media Fund, and further funding was secured through a successful Kickstarter campaign in October 2013.[1][2]

An alpha version was released through Steam Early Access in September 2014.[3] The alpha version was later launched on the Xbox One as one of the first two launch titles associated with Microsoft's Game Preview Program in June 2015. Early reviews of the alpha release were generally positive, and the game went on to sell around 750,000 copies by April 2016.[4] It was officially released on all aforementioned platforms on August 1, 2017, as well as for PlayStation 4.[5] In 2017, it was announced that a film adaptation of The Long Dark was in the works.[6] On September 17, 2020, it was announced that the game would be coming to Nintendo Switch later that same day.[7]

  1. ^ Sapieha, Chad (September 13, 2013). "Post Arcade: Hinterland founder Raphael van Lierop talks about The Long Dark". Financial Post. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  2. ^ Hinterland (September 16, 2013). "THE LONG DARK, a first-person post-disaster survival sim". Kickstarter. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  3. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (September 18, 2014). "Jennifer Hale voices a playable character in The Long Dark". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference hinterlandgames.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Donnelly, Joe (July 31, 2017). "The Long Dark story mode launch trailer teases origins of winter apocalypse". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  6. ^ Hall, Charlie (July 31, 2017). "The Long Dark is getting a film adaptation". Polygon. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  7. ^ "Everything Nintendo Announced in Today's Partner Showcase". September 17, 2020.