Atomic Heart 2 release date estimate, trailers, story, and gameplay

When is the Atomic Heart 2 release date? Developer Mundfish is back, and wackier than ever. Atomic Heart was one of the most popular (and controversial) releases of 2023, presenting an alternate history 1950s Soviet Union dystopia that blends retrofuturism with surreal elements.

As one of the best FPS games, it has been quietly trucking along with a procession of DLC packs, and as we come to the end of its roadmap, Mundfish's Atomic Heart 2 announcement couldn't have come at a better time. To keep you up to speed, we've got all the latest news for the Atomic Heart 2 release date window, including gameplay trailers and story speculation.

Atomic Heart 2 does not have an official release date yet. The latest rumors suggest that Mundfish is targeting 2026 for its launch year, but we don't expect Atomic Heart 2 to arrive until 2027 at the earliest.

"Atomic Heart 2 is coming, and it's bigger and bolder than the original," Mundfish CEO and game director Robert Bagratuni said in an official statement following the announcement trailer that aired during Summer Game Fest.

While we don't expect Atomic Heart 2 to be in development for as long as its predecessor, there are still a few factors to take into account that could have a knock-on effect for its launch.

Mundfish still has the fourth and final Atomic Heart DLC to release sometime this year, and we don't expect the studio to pivot focus to the sequel's development until its release. Also, Atomic Heart 2 isn't the only addition to Mundfish's Atomic universe. This direct sequel is accompanied by The Cube, an action MMORPG that brings multiplayer to the experience.

Atomic Heart 2 will be available "on PC and consoles," according to the announcement trailer, but the full scope of platform availability is yet to be determined. Atomic Heart was available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. However, given that the sequel is built with Unreal Engine 5, we wouldn't be surprised to see it come exclusively to current-gen consoles.

Atomic Heart 2 gameplay

Atomic Heart 2 is set to dwarf the first in both size and granularity, and the announcement trailer has offered a window into the gameplay that awaits. While we were limited to Facility 3826, it seems we'll be leaving the R&D complex behind for the wider USSR in the sequel. According to the official Steam page, Atomic Heart 2 is a "living world" full of side activities and a main story that unfolds on a global scale.

Thankfully, Mundfish has given us plenty of ways to get around this massive space. In the trailer alone, we spotted a neo-futurist glider jet, a parachute, a surfboard, the return of the Atomic Heart DLC grapple hook, and a spherical robot mount that can transform from a two-legged brawler to a futuristic car. All told, it's a definite step up from the rustbucket cars we handled in the first game.

In our Atomic Heart 2 reveal interview, Bagratuni confirms that the sequel's central metropolis is "an integral part of the game loop." While it won't be a full-blown open-world game, the size and freedom afforded to the player this time around make it primed to eclipse the linearity of its predecessor. We're also (probably) going to space.

Mundfish also claims it's expanded the RPG game elements, with a "re-engineered and enhanced combat system" to use traditional weapons and your polymer glove powers simultaneously. We expect more of both, of course, along with new robots and mutants to use them on. The Atomic Heart bosses delivered some of the best set pieces of 2023, and we've already seen a massive Attack-on-Titan-style giant lurching around in the announcement trailer.

Atomic Heart 2 story

Bagratuni describes Atomic Heart 2 as "the ideological and spiritual successor to the first game, taking all its elements to an entirely different level and expanding the game's events to a global scale."

Major Nechaev, codenamed P-3, has now been freed from the Limbo induced by Charles during the canonical Atomic Heart ending. We expect Granny Zina to return in all her Baba Yaga glory, and of course, Charles as our primary antagonist. We even get a glimpse of what appears to be Atomic Heart's infamous ballerina twins, this time in a gold-plated alloy and apparently on the same side as our wise-cracking Major.

We also noticed that the twins refer to P-3 as "Captain" rather than "Major." Perhaps this is a classic trailer misdirection, but if not, we're curious about the possible circumstances of Nechaev's demotion. Presumably, P-3's confrontation with Sechenov and Charles would have massive consequences for his standing in the Soviet Union, but Facility 3826 might be just remote enough for him to cover it up.

Enough shady dealings are going down in the announcement trailer to tell us that Nachaev will need to delve into the seedy underbelly of the Soviet Union. The sequel is looking more GTA than we've ever seen Atomic Heart, but it hasn't lost the zany touch that captivated us all from that very first trailer.

Now that you're ready to dive back into the world of Atomic Heart, refresh your memory with our Atomic Heart review, or pick up a few Atomic Heart tips and tricks if you want to hop back into the single-player game ahead of the sequel's launch.