Frostpunk 2 Switches to Unreal Engine 5 to Expand Its World

Published on January 05, 2026 | Translated from Spanish
Screenshot of Frostpunk 2 showing an aerial view of a vast post-apocalyptic industrial city, with detailed buildings, smoking chimneys, and an enveloping snowstorm, all rendered with Unreal Engine 5.

Frostpunk 2 Switches to Unreal Engine 5 to Expand Its World

The highly anticipated strategy and survival video game, Frostpunk 2, makes a crucial technological leap by migrating from the proprietary Liquid Engine to the powerful Unreal Engine 5. This decision redefines the technical boundaries of the saga, allowing the construction and management of a post-apocalyptic metropolis with unprecedented ambition. 🎮

A Technical Leap for Monumental Scale

The engine switch is not just an update; it's a rewrite of the technical foundations. Unreal Engine 5 enables the 11 bit studios team to represent the city and its environment at a scale that was previously impossible. This new scope translates into a superior capacity to display intricate details in every structure, machine, and inhabitant, all immersed in an atmosphere of constant wear and struggle. The transition facilitates the implementation of deeper and more complex simulation systems.

Key advantages of the new engine:
  • Allows displaying a city at a massively larger scale than in the first game.
  • Facilitates modeling and rendering buildings and machinery with a very high level of complexity and surface detail (such as rust and wear).
  • Provides the technological foundation to run advanced simulation systems that directly affect gameplay.
Building a metropolis in the middle of a perpetual storm may not be the most sound urban planning, but it undoubtedly makes every management decision count double.

Atmosphere and Weather with Palpable Realism

A fundamental pillar of the experience is the simulation of a dynamic weather system. With Unreal Engine 5, the game processes phenomena like snowstorms with superior realism. These events are not just decorative; they directly affect resource management, temperature, and citizen morale, integrating the atmosphere into the core of the strategy. The engine's Lumen and Nanite technology help render lighting and dense particle effects credibly.

Enhanced atmospheric elements:
  • Simulation of snowstorms and fluids with direct visual and mechanical impact.
  • Dynamic global illumination that creates an oppressive and dense atmosphere.
  • Particle effects that reinforce the sensation of a hostile and icy world.

An Industrial Aesthetic Taken to the Extreme

The art section intensifies the saga's distinctive industrial steampunk aesthetic. The models feature exceptional detail, showing corroded materials, gigantic structures, and complex mechanisms that visually narrate the struggle to survive. The new engine enhances lighting and visual effects, creating scenes where smoke, steam, and cold can almost be felt. Every corner of the expanded city tells a story of survival engineering in extreme conditions. ⚙️