The Sinking City 2 Release Window Announced

Developer Frogwares has announced that the upcoming horror game sequel The Sinking City 2 will launch in the first half 2026. It will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG. The developer revealed that it initially planned to launch the game by shadow dropping it this year. However, it blames the ongoing war in Ukraine and the sequel’s genre shift as reasons for the delay. The Sinking City 2 is “a survival–horror game, set in a Lovecraftian 1920s United States. In the infamous city of Arkham, a supernatural flood has driven out all but the most deranged residents and brought decay and Eldritch monsters to the streets.”

Frogwares head of publishing Sergiy Oganesyan commented on the game’s release timing in a press release:

“Developing a game during a war isn’t something you can ever really prepare for, but something you need to keep adapting to. At one point, we were losing power for days as drones and missiles hit our power grid. When that tactic stopped working, it became mass drone swarms every other night, going from midnight until dawn. You work all day, then spend the sleepless night listening for explosions, and somehow still need to function the next morning… These things all slowed us down regularly to the point where it just doesn’t make sense to try to rush what we have left to meet a date that we no longer feel is worth chasing. How Moscow’s tactics to terrorize civilians will change again as winter comes is anyone’s guess, so we’d rather be ready to adapt again, knowing we’re able to take our time.”

Frogwares lead game designer Alexander Gresko added:

“Switching to survival horror for the first time has been a whole new kind of challenge for us in itself, too. We’ve been making investigation adventures for more than twenty years, but survival horror asks for a completely different kind of design thinking. Tension, pacing, combat, etc. We’ve always loved the genre as fans, but once you start building it yourself, you realize how much you still have to do. It’s exciting, but it definitely makes development slower.

We don’t have an exact date set for 2026 yet, but we thought it was better to at least share what we do know. We’d rather be certain than announce something now only to move it again. Rest assured, we’re currently aiming for the first half of 2026, so it’s a matter of months, not years.”

The game’s full details:

The Sinking City 2 is a survival–horror game, set in a Lovecraftian 1920s United States. In the infamous city of Arkham, a supernatural flood has driven out all but the most deranged residents and brought decay and Eldritch monsters to the streets.

The first gameplay teaser, which shows off combat, a dash exploration, and the optional investigation, has been released alongside the game’s official Kickstarter campaign.

With War Still Raging, Frogwares Turns to Community via Kickstarter

Ukraine is still in a state of war that impacts the lives of everyone in the country. Frogwares has therefore opted to use Kickstarter once again to create a safety net for the studio, to help secure some additional features for the game, and to get more direct access to its most diehard fans.

“After three years of this horrid war hanging over our daily lives, we’ve learned to adapt, though it has never been easy,” said Frogwares CEO Wael Amr. “In 2023 when we released Sherlock Holmes The Awakened with the help of Kickstarter and our loving fans, we built ourselves a safety net that saved us more than once. From power outages and the need for team members to relocate on short notice, to having to pause development for days, this safety net was crucial. Given that The Sinking City 2 is a far more complex and demanding game, we’ve decided to take the same route as before.”

The Kickstarter campaign has a target of €100,000 / $105,000 and offers a selection of rewards to fans, with the focal point being two physical Collector’s Editions that will be made available only to Kickstarter backers.

Alongside the campaign, the team has also released a five minutes deep dive developer diary showcasing the current state of development, additional in-game footage and more.

Key Features

Fight to Survive – Use an arsenal of 1920s-inspired firearms and melee weapons to fight against Eldritch-inspired admonitions.

Explore the Decaying City of Arkham – A world of decaying mansions, flooded markets and abandoned hospitals that you’ll explore by foot and by boat.

Find and Use What You Can – Scrounge for limited resources and balance a finite inventory as you decide what to bring and what to leave behind.

Choose to Investigate Further – Solve optional cases and puzzles that let you investigate your surroundings deeper to uncover secrets, alternate options, and more lore.

A Twisted Lovecraftian Tale – Experience a morally grey and captivating story focused on

personal loss and woven around the Lovecraftian mythos of cults, rituals, and incomprehensible creatures.

Still Pushing The Studio in a New Direction

With The Sinking City 2, Frogwares is going full steam ahead with its original pledge to pivot the studio to a “horror-first” focus with gameplay primarily built around combat, exploration, and its Lovecraftian setting.

“When we announced The Sinking City 2 back in 2024, we stated this is going to be our chance to shift our studio into creating games that are more ‘horror first’-focused and the results we’re all seeing internally are extremely promising,” said Frogwares publishing director Sergiy Ohanesyan. “We’re not ditching our investigation roots entirely but the chance to spread and challenge our norms has really helped the team grow. We’ve placed combat and exploration first while still keeping an air of investigation that adds depth but is entirely optional.”

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