The Sinking City 2 pre-orders are open — three editions, one AAA-beating price
Ukrainian indie studio Frogwares has opened pre-orders for The Sinking City 2, its Lovecraftian survival horror follow-up, ahead of an August 18, 2026 release. The Standard Edition is priced at $49.99 — a deliberate $10 undercut of the typical AAA launch price — with Deluxe ($54.99) and Premium ($59.99) tiers also available. The game comes to PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
The editions
Every pre-order of the Standard Edition includes the Chthonic Arsenal weapon pack: three uniquely styled firearms — the Shale Mary pistol, The Breakwater shotgun, and the Tektite Tommy submachine gun. The Deluxe Edition ($54.99) adds the Arkham Field Kit, a set of special costumes and in-game resources on top of the Chthonic Arsenal.
The Sinking City 2 — pre-order edition breakdown and weapon bonuses.
The Premium Edition ($59.99) is the one to pick if you want early access — it unlocks the game 24 hours ahead of launch, on August 17. It also includes Holloway Manor, a standalone two-hour bonus mission that rewards you with the Bucking Bronco revolver. Third-party key sellers like Gamesplanet already have discounts live — around 10% off in the US and up to 21% off in Europe, per GG.Deals. The game will not be on Game Pass or PlayStation Plus at launch.
A genuine pivot — and a wartime effort
The original 2019 game was a detective title with clunky shooting. The sequel drops the investigation mechanics entirely and repositions itself as a straight survival horror, drawing comparisons to the Resident Evil series. It runs on Unreal Engine 5.8 — a late-stage engine upgrade that Frogwares says delivered meaningful performance gains — targeting 1440p at 60 fps on recommended hardware.
The studio has been working under wartime conditions, with its team dispersed across Ukraine and abroad. After a high-profile legal dispute with publisher Nacon in 2019, Frogwares has self-published ever since, which gives it full control over pricing decisions. CEO Sergiy Oganesyan explained the $49.99 strategy as a deliberate choice to reach the widest possible audience rather than chase a premium price point, according to Gematsu.
PC requirements
Running the game at minimum settings (1080p / 30 fps) requires a GTX 1070 or RX 5700 with 16 GB of RAM. Hitting the recommended target (1440p / 60 fps) calls for an RTX 4070 Ti or RX 7900 XT paired with 32 GB of RAM and a Core i5-14600K or Ryzen 5 7600X. Either way, you'll need 70 GB of storage and DirectX 12.
A playable demo is available on Steam now if you want to try before you commit. The monster design, based on earlier trailers, leans hard into Lovecraftian body horror — which is exactly the point.