Atomic Heart Release Date: Gameplay, Trailer and More

Atomic Heart has been a promising but mysterious game since its initial announcement, with many stories about development hell overshadowing the game itself sometimes. Since the first teaser trailer dropped way back in July 2017, gamers have been fascinated with its retrofuture, sci-fi aesthetic and System Shock inspired immersive sim design. If you're curious about the game, check out our breakdown of the Atomic Heart release date.

Atomic Heart Release Date

At the time of writing, the Atomic Heart release date has been officially confirmed for February 21, 2023. This comes after years and years of speculation about the release date, and reports about development hell, which made many think it would never come.

Back in February 2022, there was a new story trailer which displayed the release date as "#######BER", suggesting that it would release in the final months of 2022. It wasn't until November that it became clear that this was delayed, when the game was finally confirmed for February 2023.

The game will also be a day one release for Xbox Game Pass, so if you want to try it out with a relatively low cost of entry, you can make use of the subscription service.

Atomic Heart Development

The development for Atomic Heart hasn’t all been smooth sailing so far though and the game reportedly had to be scrapped, with development restarting in 2018. Back in January 2019, a report was submitted to gaming forum ResetEra that provided an account from anonymous sources within Mundfish about the tumultuous nature of development.

Supposedly, mass layoffs had occurred after months of poor project management and incompetency from the top of the hierarchy, with crunch beginning as early as 2017 - not far into the initial development.

Pressing the reset button on the title's development supposedly led to the new version of the game being significantly downgraded from earlier builds. Though only time will tell how this has affected the overall experience when the game is eventually released.

After the leaks and reports of the game being stuck in limbo came to light, the studio did respond, dismissing the claims as “clickbait” and suggesting that development was still on track.

Atomic Heart Trailers

There have been several trailers so far for the game: teaser trailers, cinematic trailers, and even two long-form gameplay reveals that have highlighted the title's progress. One gameplay reveal was released in 2019 and showcased some of the environments and combat.

Though a little rough around the edges, it was a promising look into the game with clear inspiration from Bioshock and Arkane’s Prey shining through.

The follow-up gameplay reveal from August 2020 turned out to be much more complete and featured the announcement that Mick Gordon, of DOOM fame, would be composing music for the title.

In the trailer, the UI had been overhauled to look sleeker and more informative, the graphics had a clear enhancement, and it took the player through a high-tech laboratory before closing out with a boss fight.

Atomic Heart Gameplay and Story

As already stated, Atomic Heart is a first-person game and contains RPG elements due to its immersive sim inspired design, that rewards experimentation and player interactivity within the game's mechanical systems. This is somewhat highlighted in the second gameplay trailer where the player interacts with a robot, using wires that emerge from their palm to hack it and send it flying forward into other enemies.

Mundfish have even stated that the player will be rewarded by observing how enemies relate to each other and how they can be taken advantage of.

The game is confirmed to feature a crafting system that allows for the creation of over 30 melee and firearms weapons, plus the addition of body and further weapon modifications. We can assume the body modifications will somehow tie into the abilities and powers that have been showcased in the trailers, such as the hacking wires and a wallhack ability that lets you track enemies.

In terms of story, the player will take control of special KGB Agent, Major P-3, who has been tasked with exploring facility No3826. The facility has had a power failure that caused all the machines to rebel, and it’s up to you to explore and find out what’s going on.

If the title borrows from other similar titles in the genre, then there is expected to be lots of worldbuilding through carefully crafted environmental design and notes that inform the player of lore.

Atomic Heart Platforms

Currently, the game is slated to be released on most current-gen consoles and some last-gen consoles too. The confirmed list stands as:

• PlayStation 4
• PlayStation 5
• Xbox One
• Xbox Series X|S
• PC