Big news out of Rocketship Entertainment this week! The publisher of webcomics and webtoons and bringing them to print just announced that it will partner with 11 Bit Studios to print Frostpunk 1886: The Graphic Novel! 11 Bit Studios is the publisher behind games like This War of Mine, The Alters, and the Anomaly series, as well as Frostpunk, a rightly-lauded city building survival game. The graphic novel will launch for preorder on Kickstarter this summer, offering a range of backer rewards before heading to retail distribution.

 

 

The graphic novel boasts the creative talents of Harvey Award-nominated writer Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Green Lantern: New Guardian) and Eisner nominated artist Ryan Benjamin (Batman Beyond, Vampire Hunter D)! Quite the stacked cast of creators and partners!

Below are all the details from Rocketship!

Per Rocketship’s press release:

Today, Rocketship Entertainment and 11 Bit Studios, the publisher behind games like This War of Mine, The Alters, and the Anomaly series, announced they will partner for Frostpunk 1886: The Graphic Novel.  Harvey Award-nominated writer Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Green Lantern: New Guardian) and Eisner nominated artist Ryan Benjamin (Batman Beyond, Vampire Hunter D) will adapt Frostpunk, the critically acclaimed city building survival game.

Originally released in 2018, Frostpunk was a massive indie success, highly regarded for its unique blend of city-building, survival, and intense moral storytelling within a frozen, post-apocalyptic setting. In 2024, the highly anticipated sequel Frostpunk 2 garnered huge sales and even more critical acclaim, and recently, 11 Bit Studios announced that in 2027 they will release Frostpunk 1886, a ground up remake of the original game in Unreal Engine 5.

The Frostpunk universe’s story begins like this:

In the summer of 1886, the snowstorms began. Crops failed, people starved. Millions fled south. They met only chaos, famine, and death. In the farthest reaches of the resource-rich north, the British Empire began construction of heat-bearing generators, where a chosen few could survive safe from the chaos of crumbling civilization. They ran out of time. An apocalyptic ice storm came from the south, devouring all in its path. People fled in panic. Some managed to cross the seas and reach the site of a generator only to find it frozen solid. The generator was designed to power a city capable of weathering the end of the world… It falls to us to build it.

Acclaimed writer Justin Jordan will be scripting the adaptation.  After being nominated for the Harvey Award for Most Promising New Talent in 2012, Jordan was a writer for Green Lantern: New Guardian, co-creator on The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, and one of the writers of the Eisner Award-nominated Dark: A Horror Anthology. He’ll work alongside superstar artist Ryan Benjamin who has worked on best-selling comics like Uncanny X-Men, Star Wars, Spawn, Captain America, Iron Man, Batman, Vampire Hunter D, New York Times Bestseller Batman Beyond, and the Eisner Award-nominated Brothers Bond, which he created with Kevin Greviez.

“We’re thrilled to bring Frostpunk to a new medium,” said Jakub Stokalski, Frostpunk 2 Game Co-Director and Design Director. “This universe has always held more stories than we could tell in games alone. When we launched our indie city-builder back in 2018, we never imagined the IP would grow like this – but the frost keeps spreading, and we’re excited to see where it takes us next.”

“Frostpunk is one of the most morally complex worlds in gaming, a place where survival and humanity are always in direct conflict.” said Rocketship CEO and Publisher Tom Akel. “Justin Jordan and Ryan Benjamin are exactly the team to put that on the page. This book is going to smash fans’ expectations.”

The Kickstarter for Frostpunk 1886: the Graphic Novel launches this summer featuring exclusives and will be followed by retail distribution through Simon and Schuster and Lunar Distribution.

About 11 Bit Studios
Driven by the creation of meaningful entertainment, this collective of veteran developers and strategic publishers reaches millions of hardcore gamers worldwide. We’re looking to partner with experienced teams who share our artistic sensibility: those who want to build thought-provoking experiences without compromising on a disciplined business approach.

About Rocketship Entertainment

Rocketship Entertainment, LLC, founded in 2019 by Tom Akel and Rob Feldman, is a publishing, consumer product, and entertainment company with multiple Eisner-nominated and Ringo award-winning series including Let’s Play, Fox Fires, Angry Birds, Lars the Awkward Yeti, Pacific Rim,Urban Animal, and Stan Lee’s Backchannel. Rocketship’s partnerships include Legendary Entertainment, Simon & Schuster, Dreamworks, The Gotham Group, Rovio, 451 Media, Tapas Media, JABberwocky Literary Agency, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., Top Cow, and Stan Lee’s Pow! Entertainment. Rocketship connects fans directly to the series they want, working hand-in-glove with creators to create definitive, premium editions of their work and a full array of consumer products. For more information visit rocketshipent.com or follow on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.