The Long Dark gets moody trailer and heads for Steam Early Access

Good news for those of you looking forward to scratching around for food and warmth in the aftermath of a geo-magnetic catastrophe. And hey, who isn't ? There's not too much longer to wait. The Long Dark, which is the hugely promising artsy survival game from debutant studio Hinterland Games is heading for Steam Early Access in September.

The release will focus entirely on the game's sandbox elements, rather than the story stuff (which begins with a pilot crash-landing after the unspecified magnetic snafu). To celebrate your eventual battle with hypothermia, gnawing hunger and almost certain death at the claws of some furry ne'er do well, there's a frosty new site and this evocative trailer.

Our man Leif Johnson recently had a chance to die some lonely deaths in a preview build of the alpha. You can read his impressions here , and I also spoke to the game's creative director, Raphael van Lierop, earlier this year about why the game doesn't need zombies . But presumably does require thermal socks.

Tim Clark

With over two decades covering videogames, Tim has been there from the beginning. In his case, that meant playing Elite in 'co-op' on a BBC Micro (one player uses the movement keys, the other shoots) until his parents finally caved and bought an Amstrad CPC 6128. These days, when not steering the good ship PC Gamer, Tim spends his time complaining that all Priest mains in Hearthstone are degenerates and raiding in Destiny 2. He's almost certainly doing one of these right now.