BREAKING NEWS: Atomfall’s Second Expansion, ‘The Red Strain,’ Unleashes Crimson Terror and New Endings on September 16th

Rebellion Developments, the studio behind the hit post-apocalyptic survival-action game Atomfall, has officially announced the launch of its second major story expansion: The Red Strain. Deploying on September 16th, this highly anticipated DLC promises to deepen the bizarre, alternate-history British post-apocalypse with a new, top-secret location, a host of terrifying enemies, and a deadly viral threat, all while unlocking new potential endings to the main narrative.

This news confirms a significant investment in expanding the game’s lifespan, appealing directly to the massive player base—now exceeding 2.5 million players—who have been drawn to the unique blend of 1950s British culture, Cold War paranoia, and nuclear fallout. The Red Strain is set to be a crucial piece of premium DLC content, further cementing Atomfall’s position in the highly competitive open-world survival game market.

Unveiling Test Site Moriah: A Highly Classified New Zone

The core of The Red Strain expansion is the introduction of a completely new, chilling environment: Test Site Moriah in the Scafell Crag region of the Cumberland Quarantine Zone. This facility is no ordinary ruin; it is a secret research site built by the mysterious B.A.R.D. on an old missile testing ground, kept hidden even from top government officials before the catastrophic events of the Windscale Incident.

A Virus Spreading: The Red Strain Threat

The narrative centers on a deadly virus—the eponymous Red Strain—which has infected the region and is seeping out from a network of underground labs and bunkers. Players are tasked with venturing into this highly confidential location to:

• Investigate the dark history and classified projects hidden within Test Site Moriah.
• Unravel the mystery of the Red Strain virus and its connection to the powerful Oberon artifact from the main story.
• Collect a series of bizarre jarred brains—a key objective that slowly reveals the full scope of the conspiracy.

This focus on a contained, heavily guarded, and scientifically twisted location suggests a more intense, story-driven experience compared to the game’s previous DLC, Wicked Isle, offering a fresh environment for high-level exploration.

Enhanced Arsenal and New Combat Dynamics

To combat the enhanced threats within Test Site Moriah, players will receive significant arsenal upgrades and new abilities that fundamentally alter combat strategies. The high-impact gameplay of Atomfall is being expanded in two key directions:

Stealth and Suppression:

• New suppressed weapons will be available, enabling players to strike from the shadows and adopt a more covert approach. This caters to players who prefer stealth gameplay and carefully managed encounters.

Overwhelming Firepower and Robotics:

• A powerful new skill allows players to equip heavy weaponry salvaged from disabled robots, turning the tide in large-scale firefights.
• The Signal Redirector MK II is introduced, a new tool that allows players to hack turrets and robots to fight on their behalf, adding a vital layer of strategic combat and crowd control against the new mechanized and viral foes.

The expansion features terrifying new enemy types, including Red Strain ferals and robots controlled by human brains—an element that firmly pushes the narrative into the realm of sci-fi horror and dark experimentation.

Intertwining Narratives and Multiple Endings

The Red Strain is not merely a side quest; it is deeply interwoven with Atomfall‘s core narrative. The expansion’s unique leads and choices will directly impact the game’s conclusion, unlocking new potential endings to the main story.

This focus on player-driven mystery and consequential choices is a key differentiator for Atomfall in the first-person RPG space. The requirement to potentially replay the game’s finale to witness the full outcome of the DLC’s decisions is a design choice that incentivizes maximum replay value and further exploration of the complex, morally ambiguous world Rebellion has created.

The new Story Expansion Pack is priced at £14.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 on PC and slightly higher on console platforms, and is included for owners of the Atomfall Deluxe Edition or the Season Pass. Its release on September 16th on all platforms—Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), and Xbox Game Pass—is perfectly timed to capture the attention of players looking for substantial, high-value content to carry them through the beginning of the fall gaming season.

Prepare for the crimson tide. The secrets of Test Site Moriah are waiting, and the battle against The Red Strain will be the greatest test yet of survival, sanity, and morality within the beleaguered Quarantine Zone.