- Bug Fixing Patch v3.0.0.31 - 27 August 2026
Greetings zailors,We have a patch which addresses some of the issues found with our recent engine version upgrade. We also have some news for players facing specific issues that can’t be directly addressed via patching.Legacy version v2.2.15.3229A number of you have raised issues with the new version of the game no longer being compatible with older hardware. This is because new versions of Unity don’t support older versions of Windows. (Steam itself no longer officially supports Windows 7 or 8.)Sunless Sea is a game we want to remain playable for a long time to come, and upgrading Unity is the best way for us to keep it maintainable. So, we’ve created a public branch that contains a version of the game that is built from the pre-Unity-upgrade codebase, but with updated local content that fixes the content sync issues. We don’t plan to update this branch of the game further, outside of…
- Maintenance update - 29 July 2026
Greetings zailors,Today’s update deals with a pair of longstanding issues. There are no new stories; this is a purely technical update to keep Sunless Sea playable and maintainable for as long as possible.Firstly, we’ve received a number of bug reports in recent times about players being unable to get into the game proper. This appears to have been an issue where Sunless Sea’s fairly old Unity version wasn’t getting along with modern operating systems and graphics drivers. As such, we’ve upgraded the game’s Unity version, which ought to resolve these bugs.Secondly, we’ve fixed a bug where post-launch content sometimes wouldn’t sync correctly with save games.If you run into any bugs, glitches, or crashes unrelated to your vessels meeting splintery ends on rocky outcrops, please see the troubleshooting guide and let us know if the horror persists.Your friends, Failbetter Games
- Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game - 4 February 2025
Hello, delicious friends, Sunless Sea is turning 10 years old on the 6th of February, if you can believe it. And the game that originated the universe, the Zee, and every dreadful thing in it, Fallen London, is now 15! (Anyone making calculations about how old that makes us should probably just let that thought wink out like a false-star.) In celebration, Fallen London is getting a major adaptation for tabletop roleplaying, developed by Magpie Games. Magpie are the team behind Root, Avatar Legends, Urban Shadows, Bluebeard's Bride and many more wonderful games. We hope this development will excite those of you who have asked us down the years if we could create a TTRPG system for this world. The initial project is to create the core rulebook and a supplement for London, with the dream being to follow that up with a Sunless Sea module, should everything work out well. We hope you'll take…
- Bug Fixing Patch v2.2.11.3212 - 26 January 2023
Save files now load correctly via the Continue button on the title screen when the steamcloud_saving.vdf file is present Buy 10 options have been added to Avernus/Naples for Fuel and Supplies Lots of typo and grammatical fixes
- Bug Fixing Patch v2.2.11.3212 - 26 January 2023
Hello, zailors! Quick little update to fix the Steam auto cloud issue that's been bugging many of you. Full notes: Save files now load correctly via the Continue button on the title screen when the steamcloud_saving.vdf file is present The steamcloud_saving.vdf file will be automatically deleted when loading the game through non-Steam clients Buy 10 options have been added to Avernus/Naples for Fuel and Supplies Lots of typo and grammatical fixes Happy zailing!
- WDC World Oceans Day Charity Sale - 9 June 2022
We're delighted to offer Sunless Sea, Zubmariner and Sunless Skies in the World Oceans Day sale this year. If you're already a Sunless Sea player, this is an ideal opportunity to pick up Zubmariner at 50% off in the knowledge that any damage you do to our imagined unterzee-beasts can be metaphorically offset by our contribution to WDC. We'll be donating 30% of our net profits from the sale event to WDC to support their conservation work.* WDC is the leading global charity dedicated to the protection and conservation of whales and dolphins. WDC defends these remarkable creatures against the many threats they face by fighting to stop whaling, end captivity, prevent accidental entanglement and deaths in nets and create healthy seas. They also advocate for the vital role that whales and dolphins play in fighting climate change and keeping our planet healthy. Their vision is a world where ev…
- Mask of the Rose now has a demo! - 10 February 2022
Today it’s been exactly a year since Mask of the Rose was funded on Kickstarter, and we've just released a demo of the first act, available right now on Steam! Offering a condensed version of Act I of Mask of the Rose, you’ll be able to explore select locations across Fallen London, introduce yourself to some key characters and encounter Mr Pages, one of the mysterious new Masters who have recently taken over London, in its office at the Bazaar. At the opening of Mask of the Rose, Mr Pages has employed your housemate, Griz, who has in turn found a few pennies’ work for you as census taker. The census goes some way beyond the expected (Surface census forms never did ask if anyone in the residence was in love), so you’ll need to approach conversations with care to find out all you need to know. Demo Feedback We're really excited to know what you think about exploring Fallen London from th…
- Mask of the Rose is now available to Wishlist on Steam - 20 October 2021
You may have seen that we Kickstarted a new game in the same universe as Sunless Sea in February this year. Now we're pleased to announce that it has a shiny Steam page! Mask of the Rose is a romantic visual novel, so somewhat different to Sunless Skies and Sunless Sea. However, it's set in the same universe, and brings all of our expertise in writing deep, surprising, meaningful stories, this time on a more personal level. Thanks to an unknown bargain, London now resides in a vast cavern under the earth. Down here, the sun doesn't shine, and Parliament has sunk into the Thames. Queen Victoria never emerges from her palace. Cats spy on their owners and whisper their secrets abroad. The fabric of strait-laced Victorian society has begun to fray. New Masters are in charge. Why are they so… tall? And always cloaked? And why are they so interested in love stories? Even death itself has a tw…
- Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition now has a release date! - 28 April 2021
We’re glad to announce that Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition will be released very soon, on Wednesday 19th May. This will be the first version of Sunless Skies we release on consoles, and will also be a free major update for everyone here on Steam! This is a greatly enhanced edition of Sunless Skies, containing all additions and improvements we’ve made to the game since launch as well as many more completely new ones. Here's a link to the trailer! For the Sovereign Edition, we’ve reworked and extended the starvation mechanics. Captains will now find a range of increasingly dubious gastronomic options available to them as desperation grows. We’ve improved character progression, with a new interface, a greater range of facets to define your past, and even a way for experienced captains to continue improving their capabilities after reaching the level cap. There are also new trading opport…
- Fallen London romantic visual novel funded on Kickstarter - 10 February 2021
Failbetter Games has successfully returned to Kickstarter to fund Mask of the Rose, a new romantic visual novel set in the studio's expansive Fallen London universe. A detectivey romancey story set just after London's fall, the game features a familiar setting but a new genre for the studio - something which encouraged it back to Kickstarter again to test the waters. As of writing, the project has more than £97k pledged of its initial £90k target, with 28 days of funding still to go. Read more
- Sunless Sea dev unveils Fallen London prequel and "romantic visual novel" Mask of the Rose - 2 December 2020
Failbetter Games, the developer behind the likes of Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, has revealed it's currently working on two new titles, one of which is a visual-novel-style prequel to its acclaimed browser game Fallen London. Fallen London, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, unfolds in an alternate-universe Victorian London that was stolen by bats and carried beneath the planet's surface, down into a vast underground cavern system known as the Neath. Failbetter's next game, titled Mask of the Rose, takes place in 1862, shortly after London's move underground and around three decades prior to the events of Fallen London and Sunless Sea. It's a somewhat different proposition to other games in the series too, being pitched as a "romantic visual novel" - albeit one that retains Failbetter's darkly irresistible gothic wit. Read more
- Announcing Our Next Game: Mask of the Rose - 2 December 2020
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F11789502%2F7b79f9c08ae05edf04af69d0e57555e9604c2dcb.png For a while now, we’ve been working on a couple of new projects. Today we’re very excited to announce the first of them! Mask of the Rose is a romantic visual novel and prequel to all our other games set in the Fallen London universe. Here’s the trailer: https://youtu.be/QujJ4oVaFKI Mask of the Rose takes place in 1862, mere months after London was stolen by bats. Londoners are still adjusting to life underground. The old street signs are being erased. New ministries and new festivals are being established. The mysterious Masters of the Bazaar seem to be in charge. You share your boarding house with a few other lodgers: Archie, a medical student discovering firsthand that Death works differently here. Griselda, a close aide of the new Masters. Horatia, the landlady wi…
- Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition and Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition release update - 9 April 2020
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F11789502%2F2da891519e90db186ed3321018178e7cf8b21f64.jpg Surprise! Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition is coming out for Switch on 23rd April and XBox One on the 24th! You may have heard that we’ve been working on console ports for Sunless Sea, and Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition. Initially we’d expected Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition to release for PC/Switch/PS4/Xbox One first, with Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition following. Schedules on both projects have moved around a bit, meaning the release dates are now as follows: Sunless Sea comes to Switch on 23rd April Sunless Sea comes to Xbox on the 24th Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition comes to PC, Switch, PS4 and Xbox in August/September We'll have more to share about the Sovereign Edition for Sunless Skies as work continues, but we hope that for now, the opportunity to return…
- Failbetter's next games are 'likely to play very differently' from Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies - 13 January 2020
Fallen London , the browser-based progenitor of Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, is celebrating a decade of weirdness and wonderful prose. It's a big achievement given the declining popularity of browser games, and the trickiness in making them profitable. As well as concluding the long-running Ambition storylines, the Failbetter team hosted an AMA that hinted at the series' future.  While Failbetter isn't ready to discuss its next project in detail, CEO Adam Myers revealed that, for the next few, the studio will probably be making some big changes to how they play. "We can't say much about future games right now, but at least the next few that we make are likely to play very differently to FL, Sunless Sea, and Skies," he said. "And of course, they'll still have rich narratives with a lot of choice and consequence." The latest game, Sunless Skies, is set afte…
- 10 Years of Fallen London! - 9 January 2020
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F11789502%2F61191a447a1cedc0f12928698adbb152fe4817a3.png If you've played Sunless Sea or Sunless Skies, you might be familiar with Fallen London! Fallen London is a text-based browser game set in a subterranean city inhabited by Victorian Londoners, talking rats, and people with the faces of squids. In the last decade, it’s grown from a handful of stories to a 2.5-million word epic with tens of thousands of monthly players. We’d like to think that it’s remained popular for the kinds of stories we offer. Not just the weird, inventively horrifying world, but the fact that you get to act on fantastically bad ideas, from publishing horrendous poetry to feeding your soul to a cat. To hear more about the celebrations we have in store for Fallen London's 10th birthday, follow us on Twitter or join our Discord. Storridge's Definite…
- Sunless Games in the Winter Sale - 20 December 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F11789502%2F1860dee8b3cffae12467098f0ff56f8cc9a0fc8f.jpg The longest nights of the year are upon us: the perfect time to lose yourself in the dark of Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies! (With apologies to the southern hemisphere; they do play equally well in summer.) Sunless Skies has a recent review score of 95% positive, and has been named a game of the year by The Washington Post, The Guardian, New Yorker, Kotaku AU, Paste and Slant. It's 50% off in the sale! Sunless Sea is also 95% positive, with 66% off in the sale, and its expansion Zubmariner is also reduced, by 60% - it really completes the experience, so we hope you'll give it a go. Celebrating 10 Years of Fallen London The browser game that started it all! Fallen London, the internet's finest text-based Victorian alternative history roleplaying game is going to be ten…
- Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition - 19 October 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F11789502%2F807200aede1abda3b4585c3ef1f5efc93d354679.png Sunless Skies: Soveriegn Edition will be released for PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in the first half of 2020! Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition will include new content and various improvements, and will be released on PC at the same time as on console. Players who already own the game on PC will receive the Sovereign Edition for free. It's been a great year for Sunless Skies, thanks to your support, and we're delighted to be able to celebrate it with this enhanced edition. What's new in the Sovereign Edition? Here's our Narrative Director, Chris Gardiner, with more detail: “The Sovereign Edition will add new stories when your crew is starving. As their desperation grows, you’ll be able to try and eat a variety of unwise, unpleasant or tragic things. By that point…
- Alexis Kennedy accused of abuse by multiple women, denies allegations - 4 September 2019
Alexis Kennedy, co-founder of Failbetter and writer and designer on Fallen London , Sunless Sea and Cultist Simulator , has been accused of being an abuser and “well-known predator” by several prominent women in the games industry, including an allegation from a former colleague at Failbetter. The allegations came as part of a recent wave of similar stories shared on Twitter, among them allegations made against composer Jeremy Soule and developer Alec Holowka . Kennedy has denied the allegations on Twitter and via a statement given to RPS, while Failbetter say they “believe and stand with everyone who has come forward.” (more…)
- See you at PAX West! - 18 July 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F11789502%2F2d844d3cbc8a4782d36d1c16cab7dfede44e3a27.png We're delighted that Sunless Skies has been chosen as one of the ten best indie games of the year by the mysterious and influential PAX 10 panel! It's a huge honour to be selected, and it means that we're able to make a rare US event appearance at PAX West in Seattle, from the 30th of August to the 2nd of September. We'll have as many pin badges as we can cram into our suitcases. Will we see you there?
- Great moments in PC gaming: Nautical misadventures in Sunless Sea - 16 June 2019
G reat moments in PC gaming are bite-sized celebrations of some of our favorite gaming memories.   There's a brand of cigarettes in Korea whose logo features a whale swimming through space emblazoned with the excellent slogan THE SEA HATES A COWARD. I think of that a lot when I'm playing Sunless Sea. This is the game about being captain of a ship on the underground ocean called the Unterzee. You set sail from the port of Fallen London, which is like regular Victorian London only it got stolen by bats and dragged beneath the earth. On the Unterzee you discover islands where strange sisters share a lonely house, exiled demons plot against Hell, and rats engage in war with guinea pigs. Most of your time is spent between those islands, chuntering along through the dark waters while your fuel and supplies run low and the terror meter climbs. Travel is about trying new things a…
