The sequel to one of the best strategy games in recent memory will be coming to PC Game Pass on day 1, 11 Bit Studios has announced. That means subscribers will be able to experience the stress of running a city constantly on the brink of collapse at no extra cost, except possibly their sanity and morality.

It will then arrive on Xbox Game Pass later to coincide with the game’s launch on Xbox Series S and Series X.

11 Bit Studios made the announcement alongside the launch of a new trailer which gives us a glimpse into what to expect from the sequel to Frostpunk.

Set 30 years after the first game, people are beginning to feel like they are managing to tame the constant cold even though survival is still a struggle. While the freezing weather initially brought a sense of community as everyone banded together to survive, humans are once again doing what humans do best: arguing.

One of the biggest new gameplay mechanics seems to be the idea of people voting on whether to implement the laws you choose, The trailer shows a city painted in two distinctive colours that appear to represent the different political parties, and it seems like success in Frostpunk 2 will revolve heavily around trying to balance those factions while making the hard decisions needed to continue surviving.

“As a Steward in Frostpunk 2, you will oversee an evergrowing metropolis and be required to carefully weigh the needs and demands of its society. Your people are concerned with the fate of their children and crimes on the streets. They complain about unhealthy squalor, escalated by industrial growth, but need places to work. And what if you cannot afford to reward their toil with food and shelter or take care of their health? You can’t please everyone and when radical factions start rising, it only takes a tiny spark for the boiling tension to blow up.” reads the official blurb.

Frostpunk 2 is due to release this year for Xbox, PC and PlayStation, although no precise date has been given.