The Forever Winter

The Forever Winter is a third person survival shooter set during an eternal war between the superpowers of Europa, Eurasia, and Euruska. The player takes on the role of a relatively unimportant civilian scavenger, or Scav for short, just trying to eke out a living in a hostile environment. Although they are armed with weapons, the military forces that dot the landscape are far more armed than the player character, making stealth generally preferable.

This video game was developed by the American studio Fun Dog Studios, with their website being available here. It released as an early access title on September 24, 2024. Since the first early access release, a number of updates have polished and iterated on the game, including how the water system works.

Has a page on Steam here, and can be found on the Epic Games Store here.

• After the End: Even though the fighting has not stopped, the war has ended any semblance of normal civilization for the scavs.
• And I Must Scream: Eurasian Cyborgs retain their sentience and self-awareness but have no autonomy or self-control.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Running out of water results in the Innards being reset, but it doesn't immediately occur on hitting zero. Instead, there's a small window where Water Thieves will appear and raid the Innards, and if the player manages to kill them, the water in their possession can be taken to refill the stockpile.
• Attack Drone: These can be seen surveying the environment, engaging in firefights, and potentially targeting the player character.
• Crapsack World: The natural result of such a long and extreme war involving the powers of Eurasia, Europa, and Euruska.
• Creepy Cemetery: The Underground Cemetery as featured in the 2024 "October Content Drop".
• Disaster Scavengers: The scavs are these, including the player character.
• Exty Years From Now: In the Official Gameplay Overview Trailer the narrator verbally states "The year is Twenty XX, welcome to the future".
• Forever War: As the name implies. The three superpowers have officially been at war for "only" 40 years, but the devastation is so thorough, with human high command dead and taken over by Artificial Intelligence, such that no one alive in-universe is really sure how the war started or what is required for it to end.
• Hub Level: The Innards is a place where quests are given and vendors can be found.
• Humongous Mecha: Can be seen in game, as well as in the trailer for the Europa EXO Lifecycle.
• It's Raining Men: Seen in the cinematic trailer, where a stream of bodies with no parachutes can be seen being dropped into combat from a large plane.
• Life Meter: One Is displayed on the bottom of the screen.
• Mega City: The ruins of Ashen Mesa are described as a former "megacity" on the Regions Display. The fact that it is near "Downtown Lost Angels" likely means this was once part of a grown Los Angeles.
• Our Graphics Will Suck in the Future: The terminal displays are somewhat stylized, though ultimately basic and utilitarian.
• Ruins of the Modern Age: The built environment is distressed in a beautifully creepy way.
• Timed Mission: Running out of water results in the Innards being reset.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: The basic Eurasian mook is a conscript forcibly augmented into a cyborg.
• Well, This Is Not That Trope: One promotional artwork of the game shows a Badass Walking Armory with a Slasher Smile like a Nineties Anti-Hero out of stereotypical military sci-fi that bears text saying "You are not this guy". The followup shows an overburdened old man and text saying "You are this guy".
• The Wiki Rule: Has a Wiki on Wiki.gg here.