Abiotic Factor gets new roadmap featuring a mystery crossover, DLC plans, and new difficulty modes alongside dev Q&A: ‘We’re terrified of our obligations to the community so be nice, we love you’

Abiotic Factor might seem like a goofy sendup of Half-Life with its balding science guys and story centered around an iconic disaster ending in the word “cascade,” but behind the silly facade is one of the best, most atmospheric survival games in recent memory.

If you’re ready for a whole lot more of it, get ready: the game’s living roadmap was just festooned with tantalizing DLC plans, patch details, and more. Obvious highlights include release windows for two DLCs—Temple of Stone before fall is over and a new sector due next summer—with lots more packed into the margins.

Free updates promise to bring new difficulty settings and farming items, improved NPC AI, boats, a brewing system, plus exercise equipment that lets you convert your bench presses into energy. If only you spent less time being a nerd and more time hitting your protein.

Perhaps most surprising is the hint at two crossovers, one of which is “sure to sink its hook in you.” Whether that’s about Peter Pan or Sega Bass Fishing, it’s worth noting that the ink may or may not even be dry on these licensing deals, as the devs confirmed in a video Q&A accompanying the blog post. I’m not sure what to expect from these updates, but it would be hilarious if this whole thing came full circle and they managed to get some Valve-approved headcrabs and G-men in there.

The video Q&A elaborates on what’s already there in the roadmap, showing some of the new updates in action and featuring developers CrissCrossGal and Zag sharing their enthusiasm for the game’s (literally) Overwhelmingly Positive reception. As Zag put it: “Look, we’re going a lot of places … and we’re really excited to bring you that future. We’re also terrified of our obligations to the community, so be nice, we love you.”