- Arctic Cold Next Fest Demo Available Now - 23 February 2026
The next instalment in the Estranged series, Arctic Cold, is taking part in Steam Next Fest! You can download the limited time demo from the Arctic Cold Store page right now. The demo showcases the first set of levels in Estranged: Arctic Cold, and is available until April 2026.Demo TrailerArctic Cold is a standalone sequel to Estranged: The Departure, following the Fisherman's adventures in a mysterious Arctic facility.After Next FestI have been working on more content for Arctic Cold, though the demo includes the levels I'm happy with in terms of completion and polish. Once Next Fest concludes, I'll collate your feedback, make adjustments and continue with content development towards an Early Access release for the game, similar to The Departure.I hope you enjoy the demo, and look forward to your feedback on the Steam forums for Arctic Cold, or on discord.gg/estranged.Thank you for pl…
- Estranged Auto HDR Update - 16 August 2025
Update 1.5.51 is now available for Estranged: The Departure, which provides support for the "Auto HDR" feature of Windows 11, and other minor fixes.Auto HDR UpdateHere's a preview using YouTube's HDR support (you will need a browser and display with HDR support to see the expanded color range and brightness).HDR could be supported natively in the future, but for now this approach does provide good HDR results without the need to re-work assets, levels and post-processing.Enabling Auto HDRIf you have an HDR display, auto HDR can be enabled in the Windows 11 "Graphics settings" menu:Windows 11 requires that the game is in exclusive fullscreen mode to enable Auto HDR. Enable exclusive fullscreen via the in-game Options -> Screen menu:The HDR intensity can be controlled via game bar, with the Windows key + G, then heading to "Settings", "More settings", and "Gaming features" menu:For the te…
- Early January Update: Extras Menu Tweak - 4 January 2025
A minor patch update is now available for Estranged: The Departure on Windows and Linux. Changes in this build: Tweaks to the Extras menu to link to the Official Estranged Wiki Happy 2025, and thank you for playing Estranged!
- October Update: Quality of Life Changes, Official Estranged Wiki - 13 October 2024
A version update for The Departure is now live on Steam for Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit and Linux (version 1.5.50), including advanced graphics options, a Ukrainian translation, and quality of life fixes. Advanced Graphics Options Estranged now offers the following Advanced Graphics options under Options > Graphics > Advanced: Enable Highest Model Detail - Turn off distance-based level of detail transitions for models Enable Highest Shadow Detail - Don't scale dynamic shadow quality with distance Enable Super Sampling - Render at 2x resolution These options are designed to future-proof the game for future hardware (and as a result will not perform well on the current recommended hardware specifications). Other Quality of Life Changes Several quality of life changes are now available, including: Supply crate tweaks so that if no resources are needed, nothing is spawned - see thread Sa…
- Early August Update: Localization Updates - 14 August 2024
A patch version update for The Departure is now live on Steam for Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit and Linux (version 1.5.49), including localization updates contributed by the community for the following languages: French Latvian Russian Chinese (Simplified) Thank you to the translators who contributed updates to the translation repository, and thank you for playing Estranged! Alan -- Further Updates Title of this news post changed to be consistent with prior news posts Follow-up update pushed live containing the updated localization caches Clarified that the update is for Windows and Linux - macOS remains on version 1.5.47 due to challenges related to Apple's notarization requirements
- 10 Year Anniversary of Estranged - 16 January 2024
10 years ago today, Estranged: Act I was released. Since then, there have been well over a million unique players, with nearly 7k reviews and the title sits with a Steam rating of 93%. "Natural Reserve" by Er0de from the Act I Steam Community Thank you to everyone that supported the project by translating, submitting feedback, and of course playing the game. The biggest reward for a game developer is seeing people have fun with something you’ve built. Humble Beginnings For those that may not know the background, Estranged started as a map for Half-Life: 2 known as Splooshe (available on the Act I workshop), inspired by some of the early Half-Life: 2 screenshots. From there, the map and concept continued to evolve into a mod, and then into a standalone game (and got a better name!). Untitled screenshot by siplaki from the Act I Steam Community The Departure After the release of Act I, Ac…
- Scammer Warning - 26 November 2022
There have been reports of users impersonating me on Steam and Discord, which sometimes involves a phishing attack (a fake Steam support thread directing users to contact "Alan Edwardes Official" on Discord). This is not me - here's some tips for spotting a scammer: I will not communicate with you via Direct Messages on any platform I am alanedwardes (previously Alan Edwardes#3608) on Discord, and only communicate via discord.gg/estranged and the Steam forums for the Estranged games If you are added by a Discord profile with my name, it is an impersonator, and the account should be reported to Discord Trust and Safety via https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/requests/new If you are added by a Steam profile with my name, it is an impersonator, and the account should be reported to Steam Support via https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/4D07-D139-587C-2080 I do not work for Valve (St…
- Early September Update: New Cheats, Translation Updates - 8 September 2021
An update with cheats and translation updates is now available for Windows, macOS and Linux! A player screenshot from Discord user Badbadalex1#5096 New Cheats The following new cheats (requested on the forums) are available to spawn Arque guards with, equipped with various weapons: spawn guard - Pistol spawn guard rifle - Assault rifle spawn guard shotgun - Shotgun (AI don't use this, just one scripted scene) spawn guard rat - Rat Tracing technology spawn guard laser - Assault rifle with high-powered laser Language Updates The following languages have also received updates from the translation community: Czech German Persian Finnish Portuguese Slovak Turkish Vietnamese I'm always around on the forums, or on discord.gg/estranged if you'd like to report bugs, or provide feedback. Thank you for playing Estranged! Alan
- Early June Update: Tweaked Intro Sequence and Bug Fixes - 31 May 2021
I'm going to pretend it's already June as I released a late may update - an update is now live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux, including an improved intro sequence and fixes! New Wake Sequence I recently published a blog post about creating motion-captured camera sequences using my phone, and I have now used this technique with the "wake" sequence in the Prelude (at the very start of Chapter 1). This technique isn't perfect, but allows you to simulate more subtle and "human" movements and I'll be using it with future camera animations of this kind. Weapon Firing Fix I want to thank everyone that helped report this bug and provided me with the information to track it down - especially on the forums. Previously, when picking up a new weapon, if you went back to your old weapon and tried to use it again, you'd see the effects of it firing without it actually firing. This bug only af…
- End of May Update: Dynamic Global Illumination Tech Demo - 30 May 2021
There's a new Steam beta branch called gi-tech-demo, which is a version of Estranged: The Departure with only some of the levels included to showcase dynamic global illumination in Unreal Engine 5. https://iamestranged.com/distribute/community/5a223fb5-68f2-4ada-a664-c443b78d9d8b.gif The Prelude level (Chapter 1 from the menu) has been adapted to allow you to control the position of the sun in the sky with the keyboard, and allow you to toggle it on and off. All lighting in this beta is calculated in real-time, while the live version of Estranged: The Departure uses pre-computed lighting. The live version of Estranged: The Departure won't change to use this technique, this is purely a tech demo to showcase the latest global illumination technology in Unreal Engine 5, which released into Early Access on May 26th. To check out the tech demo, pick the gi-tech-demo branch from the "Betas" t…
- Late March Update: Bug Fixes and Improvements - 24 March 2021
A build is now available for Windows, macOS and Linux containing improvements and bug fixes. Bug Fixes and Improvements The following changes are included in this build (1.5.42): Disables async loading thread since testing on other platforms revealed some instability Improves the slider UI element when adjusted via the keyboard and gamepad Adds a loading spinner to show while menus load Adds quick menu transition animation Adjusts stream-loading point in sp07 and removes vent grate (the first sewer) Allows the stream-loading spinner to be visible at the same time as the "LOADING" banner on slower machines If you haven't joined already, you may be interested in the Estranged Discord server. As ever, thank you for playing Estranged! Alan
- Holiday 2020 Update: Blizzard Short - 22 December 2020
A new build is live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux including a brand new short level! There is a new short level available in Estranged, called Blizzard. It's a short, story-driven adventure, and is a free and permanent update for the game. The Blizzard short was made for the holiday season, but isn't directly related to it! It provides some clues about the Estranged: The Departure story, and also what might follow it. There are now a total of 3 shorts, all available from the main menu. Thank you for playing Estranged! Alan
- Halloween 2020 Update: Waterfront Short - 30 October 2020
A new build is live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux including a brand new short level! There is a new short level available in Estranged, called Waterfront. It's a short, story-driven adventure, and is a free and permanent update for the game. The Waterfront short was made for this Halloween but isn't directly related to it, if you were feeling a bit overloaded with pumpkins! It's an homage to the very first level that started the first Estranged game, "Splooshe" (available to download for Estranged: Act I). There are now a total of two shorts, both available in a new Extras -> Shorts menu! Thank you for playing Estranged! Alan
- Early October Update: Level Improvements and General Fixes - 4 October 2020
An update is now live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux containing level improvements, and general fixes. Level Improvements The jumping puzzle in the Arque car park now doesn't require you to run and jump across at the same time, to make it easier to make it across with a gamepad. Levels which used tesellated water now instead use a high poly mesh, since this is more performant on low end machines. You can find out more about the technique in the development blog video below: General Changes This build also includes a bunch of other fixes to improve the overal gameplay experience: Removes use of tessellation in the map Dock and map Ocean levels Removes the jumping puzzle from the Arque basement car park Playing with a gamepad now results in more damage dealt to enemies Improves non-volumetric fog in map Crash for low end devices Updates translations for all targets with latest twea…
- September Update: New Game Title - 13 September 2020
An update is now live for Windows, macOS and Linux featuring a new title for the game! New Game Title I'm excited to announce that Estranged: Act II is now Estranged: The Departure! This change is primarily to let players new to the Estranged series at a glance that it's not necessary to play Act I first. There's no change to the content of the game other than a new startup screen. There are no plans to change the title of Estranged: Act I at this time. Other changes in this build: Adds support for gamepad rumble, with option to turn it off Fixes scrolling longer menus with gamepad/keyboard I'd like to give a special thank you to those that have been following the game since development began. If you'd like to join the Discord conversation: discord.gg/estranged Note: There are quite a few things to update which can take some time to propagate. If you still see the old name after this po…
- Early July Update: Fixes and Improvements - 3 July 2020
An update is now live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux! This update includes some stability improvements and new cheats. Prelude Improvements You can now get out of the ocean more easily in the Prelude if you jump in from the dock! New Cheats There are new cheats available: dropweapon - useful for dropping your current weapon if you want to take a screenshot, and can't take advantage of Nvidia Ansel loadall - allows you to stream in all levels in the current world at once to see what they're like together (interesting when used with noclip). This cheat works in TheFall and TheBase. Development Screenshots I have been posting development screenshots to the #dev-screenshots channel on discord.gg/estranged - here's a rollup: As ever - thank you for playing Estranged! If you run into any bugs or want to keep up with development, head over to https://discord.gg/estranged Alan
- Early June Update: Crash Fix - 8 June 2020
An update is now live for Windows, macOS and Linux containing a crash fix! This update overhauls the load game logic in Estranged: Act II to increase its reliability. This is in response to crash reports submitted by players, where in some circumstances a certain type of saved game could cause a crash when it is loaded. If you are able to reliably reproduce any crashes in the game, please contact me directly at alan alanedwardes (dot) com or via https://discord.gg/estranged. As ever, thank you for playing Estranged! Alan
- End of May Update: Localization Updates, Fixes, New Short Level - 31 May 2020
An update is now live on Steam for Windows, Linux and macOS, including a new short level, localisation updates and other bug fixes. NEW SHORT LEVEL There's a new short concept level available to play using the cheat map Short01 on the Extras menu. This is something I have been working on in the past week - it takes place in the Estranged universe, but isn't directly related to the plot of Act II. It is a bit of an art test, and uses all dynamic lighting. Please note that it is not intended to hit the same performance target as the singleplayer campaign, so you may notice it running at a lower frame-rate. LOCALIZATION UPDATES The following localisations received updates in this build: Portuguese (Portugal), German, Vietnamese, Slovak, Latvian. FIXES The following bugs have been fixed in this build: Allows audio volume sliders to be set to 0%, instead of 10% minimum Pressing the Interact…
- Released from Early Access - 22 May 2020
Estranged: Act II is now released from Early Access for Windows, macOS and Linux! As with my last post, I would like to thank everyone that has been a part of this project. I hope that you have had as much fun playing as I have had developing it over the past 6 years. I mentioned in the post linked above about the future of Estranged, and will share more in the weeks to come after the dust settles. Join me and the other 800+ people on the Estranged Discord server if you'd like to hang out, and I'll be around in the forums to answer any support requests that might arise. I'm still looking to update the game with fixes and localisation changes, so you're interested in translating Estranged: Act II to your language or improving an existing translation, please drop by the Discord server! Thanks again, Alan
- Leaving Early Access - 17 May 2020
https://iamestranged.com/distribute/community/localised/steam-act-ii-release.jpg I'm excited to announce that Act II will be releasing on the 22nd of May 2020! It has taken around 6 years of spare-time work to get to this point, with just over 3 years of that in Early Access. There have been 80 content updates to the game in total across the 3 platforms supported, with 35 development blog videos and 800+ members of the Discord community. As I've promised throughout, anyone that downloaded the game during Early Access will get to keep it for free, so if you know someone that might enjoy it, let them know they can grab it for free up until the 22nd of May. On the release date, as described in the Early Access description the game will become a paid for title, for around 6 USD (and a launch discount). Since a few people have asked - if you played the free version of Act II and really want…
