Very well written and nuanced reporting on the unionization attempt that occurred earlier this year, before the split with Microsoft. The piece gives a voice to the different insider perspectives on the matter.
I don't think I've seen this discussed before.
Wintermute Episode 5 confirms/elaborates on these game lore elements:
>!- An intense and long-lasting Coronal Mass Ejection event caused the failure of all electrical systems around the world, and is expected to last at least 40 years. The CME also causes behavioral anomalies in all animals (including humans). But the CME is never implied to be linked to the winter conditions encountered in the game. Real world CMEs have no impact on climate, as far as I know.!<
>!- "The Long Dark" as coined by Dr Atwood refers to the impact of the CME on human civilization, rather than to an endless winter.!<
My interpretation:
The beginning of the CME (the "First Flare") randomly happens to take place in the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere. Maybe an unusually tough winter on Great Bear, but just winter. The Wintermute storyline takes place over a few weeks only, which is why there is no visible change in the environment.
So seasons go on normally in the Long Dark universe.
Interestingly, the Steam store page description for Blackfrost mentions that the game takes place one year after the First Flare, explaining why it's winter again:
Experience the Quiet Apocalypse as survivors in the northern industrial city of Harmont and its vast environs. A year has passed since the Aurora first appeared in the sky, rendering all technology inert, with survivors just starting to emerge to face their new reality in its aftermath.
What this implies:
In survival mode, runs that go beyond 2-3 months don't make sense lore-wise. The world gets colder over time (depending on difficulty settings) for gameplay reasons only.
A "full-scope" game in this universe would have seasonal transitions with varying survival challenges over time.
In Wintermute, >!the Suzuki bunker door will open in the summer (500 days after Episode 5)!<.
There's unlimited potential for the Long Dark IP to explore stories all over the world, and not only in a frozen Canadian setting.
About Great Bear Island:
Great Bear Island is inspired by real-life Vancouver Island and/or Haida Gwaii, on the west coast of Canada. These places and Vancouver Island especially have very mild winters, with snow extremely rare at sea level, and certainly no sea ice or icebergs. That does not square with what we see in game, but that could simply be creative license by Hinterland. And again, the ice is already there at the start of the CME.
Did I miss something there?