| Frostpunk 2 | ||||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review | DLC Review |
Frostpunk 2’s Fractured Utopias DLC is a DLC expansion of Frostpunk 2’s Utopia Builder Mode, complete with new Factions, maps, and content. Read on to learn everything we know, our review, and more.
Everything We Know About Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias
Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias Plot
Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias offers an expanded experience for the base game’s Utopia Builder Mode, offering 8 unique factions for players to build toward. Set in a scenario wherein control of The City is given to a steward already aligned to a faction, Fractured Utopias does away with the gradual societal build-up of a standard game and offers a uniquely uniform look at what each faction can offer the city with minimal opposition.
Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias Gameplay
Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias’ gameplay highlights the faction system of the base game, which is usually unearthed mid-run when certain ethical requirements are met. Starting each player off with a new Utopia Tree for each of the 8 factions, Fractured Utopias lets players experience the game like never before in one of many specialized ways, depending on which Utopian Faction they choose to align with.
Fractured Utopias also adds new features to the base game, including new metagame unlocks for players to add to any game across all game modes, two new Tale scenarios to test the players’ survival/city-builder skills, a new map unique to the DLC, unique faction hubs for each of the DLC’s factions, and over 100 new narrative events to experience.
Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias Release Date
Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias was released for the PC (Steam, Epic Games, GOG), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on December 8, 2025.
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| $12.99 | |||||||||
Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias DLC Review
Finally, the Full Frostpunk 2 Experience
I had the pleasure of being a part of the Frostpunk fandom ever since the first game dropped. I wasn’t so huge a fan of city-builders back then, but the first Frostpunk was certainly among the few games that developed my appreciation for the genre. When Frostpunk 2 came out, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the first game was expanded in every possible way, providing a great game with an equally great sequel.
I even got to try the original game’s DLC scenarios, and I expected as much for the sequel when more content was confirmed to be on the way. What we got is something wholly unique to the series, appropriately complementary to the sequel, and what I’d describe to be the missing final piece to the Frostpunk 2 experience that I didn’t know I needed until now.
Building the Utopia of Your Choice
As I stated earlier, I expected something similar to the first game’s DLC when Frostpunk 2 showed signs of additional content on the horizon. That meant new scenarios, new maps, and maybe a few new mechanics sprinkled across several different DLCs. Fractured Utopias is a bundle of all three, yes, but it’s also unique in the same way that Frostpunk 2 is pretty much a completely different game from the original.
First off, it’s not one new isolated scenario or map with a unique experience. Rather, it’s an expansion of the base game’s aptly named Utopia Builder mode, which lets you customize your game like never before. Think of the DLC as a few extra additions to a toolkit that already offers you more ways to change the experience.
Although Fractured Utopias does offer a whole slew of new content, the most notable one shows up before you even start a game. With the DLC active, you can pick three communities to represent the Zeitgeist directions for this run: Progress vs. Adaptation, Merit vs. Equality, and Tradition vs. Reason. This is normal for any Utopia Builder run, but Fractured Utopias adds another layer of municipality for you to handle with the Utopian Factions and their special traits.
The Utopian Factions represent 8 unique combinations of Zeitgeists within a society, as determined by your selection at the start. They represent the values of different communities, but are a distinct institution in and of themselves. These usually trigger mid-way through each Utopia Builder run when specific values of an ethos are reached, but in this mode, you start with one immediately alongside your three lesser factions.
With that settled, let’s get our coats on and begin another run in the ravages of the whiteout.
Leveraging Utopia Trees for that Perfect Future
The first thing you’ll notice when you start a run with this DLC is the addition of a new skill tree in the far lower left. Separate from the Council and Research trees, the Utopia Tree grants unique benefits according to the faction you choose. You get a freebie at the start, which is usually a powerful Faction Hub designed to synergize with your chosen faction’s speciality.
For this review, let’s assume you chose the same faction as I did, as I explain how this works. Rest assured, each of the eight available is a unique and fun experience in its own way. For my first game, I chose the Overseers, who represent the ethos of Progress, Merit, and Tradition. Representing the Old Empire in practice, they promote social stratification between the rich and the poor, but don’t eliminate the need for learning new technologies or upholding traditional values.
At the start, I earned the Imperial Academy Faction Hub from the Utopia Tree, which lowers Tension between all citizens in nearby housing districts, while also giving me access to a new resource unique to the Overseers called Mementos. Later, I learned ways to recalibrate the Generator, given that the Overseers represent the original makers of the machine, as well as methods to leverage the Memento resource for Research, Efficiency, and Trust.
All of this is made possible by the Utopia Tree, which, itself, progresses much differently from anything else in the base game. Instead of letting time pass as you would for Council or Research changes, the Utopia Tree only progresses if you fulfil the Agendas of each of the three lesser factions representing the core Zeitgeists comprising the Faction’s values.
For example, in the case of the Overseers, I needed to appease the Machinists, Merchants, and Lords by passing certain laws, researching particular topics, or constructing specific buildings. It has to be in equal measure, too, as a Utopia Point is only granted if all three have reached a particular threshold. Appeasing just one won’t nab you anything new; this is a Utopia, after all.
This is basically a build-guided start for a normal Utopia Builder game. Your faction comes early, so you already have a direction to build toward. Not only that, but you’re also equipped with the perfect skill tree to further your Faction’s goals, provided that you’re able to answer their demands.
None of that’s any easier than any other runs from the base game, but Fractured Utopias still has a few things to throw at you once you think your Utopia’s taking shape.
Duking it Out Against Your Moral Opposites
No Utopia is built without strife and bloodshed watering its soil, and the one you build in Frostpunk 2’s Fractured Utopia DLC is no different. Once you’ve made some headway into your Utopia Tree, an opposing major faction will make itself known in your city. It will always be the direct moral opposite of your chosen faction, representing the values your city DID NOT have.
In the case of the Overseers, the Bohemians, representing Tradition, Merit, and Equality, stood in my city’s way to progress. Though opposing factions are present in the base game across all modes, Fractured Utopias also grants you access to their Utopia Tree once they pop up. This gives you the unique option to build in such a way that’s diametrically opposed to your starting faction’s values, while still allowing your city to thrive.
Apart from this new Faction system, your game will run pretty much the same as it would in the base game. Your goal is still determined by your chosen Ambition and Tale scenario at the start, the research, council, and exploration mechanics still work as they always have, and you’re still likely to enjoy the good ol’ Frostpunk 2 charm the game released with back in 2024.
As much as I want to say otherwise, that’s not everything it has to offer.
Plenty of New Unlocks and Content
While the meat of the DLC revolves around the Factions, you’d be remiss to ignore everything else it comes with. Fractured Utopias comes with two new Tale scenarios for you to enjoy with "Plague" and "Doomsayers" representing two new massive hurdles for you to face in the Whiteout. Each comes with its own metagame unlocks, of course, so finishing a game isn’t just for the clout anymore.
There are also over a hundred new narrative events for players to discover as they go through each of the different Factions across multiple runs. This is the base game narrative system expanded to fit the new stories these new factions can tell, with new in-game effects to boot.
Each Faction also comes with unique mid-game unlocks that are otherwise inaccessible, even if you do encounter them as opposing Factions in other runs. These can manifest as new buildings, laws, and even upgrades.
Lastly, there’s the new Jagged Bay map, which places your city next to a frozen coastline with unique resource distributions and an absolute lack of usable real estate. If you’re looking for a new locale in the snow, or just a logistical challenge to keep those gears turning, then this pack is a must-buy, and for not that huge a mark-up from the original game’s DLCs either.
It’s actually quite surprising to see how much this DLC improves the experience despite it not being overly heavy in new content. I never once thought that the Utopia Builder on release was incomplete, but seeing what could be had with this DLC, it feels bare in comparison.
Don’t Expect Anything for Story Mode
Sadly, since this is a smaller DLC and not a full-blown expansion, Frostpunk 2’s Story Mode remains completely untouched by Fractured Utopias. There’s nothing you can expect from Fractured Utopias that would significantly change the Story Mode progression and gameplay apart from what basic changes the base Utopia Builder already offered.
This is strictly something for the free-play enjoyers among the player-base, so if you’re looking for some new lore, then perhaps wait for a different DLC to drop sometime in the future.
Rounding Off an Already Near-Utopian Release
So, that’s everything that the Fractured Utopias DLC has for Frostpunk 2. It’s little more than a few options for a particular game mode, but it offers the depth and variance I think the Story Mode very much needed.
It still operates under much of the same mechanics and largely plays the same, but it does add a healthy dollop of flavor to a game that already had a unique taste to begin with. It’s not really the absolutely icebreaker of a DLC Shadow of the Erdtree was, falling short of even a modest expansion, but you won’t find me complaining.
For a game like Frostpunk 2, a little goes a long way. Too many gimmicks, and what made the base game excellent will be buried in the snowdrift. I’m actually quite glad that this DLC is as light as it was without feeling like a rip-off. If anything, it’s the last tiny piece the game needed to feel complete.
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Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias Product Information
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| Title | FROSTPUNK 2: FRACTURED UTOPIAS |
|---|---|
| Release Date | December 8, 2025 (PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S) |
| Developer | 11 bit Studios |
| Publisher | 11 bit Studios |
| Supported Platforms | Steam Epic Games Store GOG PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | City-builder, Survival |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB 17+ |
| Official Website | Frostpunk 2: Fractured Utopias Official Website |
