Hell Let Loose moves Seelow Heights to 2027, adds Lake Balaton to winter update

Hell Let Loose's 2026 roadmap is shifting. The community-voted Seelow Heights map is now planned for 2027, with extra development time set aside to deliver it at the expected quality. The winter update will instead feature Lake Balaton, a new Eastern Front map set in Hungary during Operation Spring Awakening. Experimental Branch playtests for the frozen map will run over the coming months, while bug fixing and performance work across all platforms continue. The next roadmap, covering 2027, is expected closer to the end of the year and the release of Update 22.

Update 21 remains the next major update. It adds the iron-sighted M1903A3 Springfield and an updated M1903A4 Springfield model for the US, plus the long-requested ROKS 2 Flamethrower for the Soviets. Rifle grenade launchers are also arriving for the M1 Garand (M7 Grenade Launcher), Karabiner 98k (Schiessbecher), and SMLE No.1 MK III EY (No.1 MK I Cup Discharger), with HE, smoke, and anti-tank grenades. They can be fired from the hip or shoulder in Update 21; planting and indirect-fire use is planned for Update 22.

New loadouts include a Level 6 US Rifleman with the M1903A3 and an explosive ammo box, a Level 8 Soviet Support with the ROKS 2, and new rifle-grenade loadouts for all appropriate factions: Level 8 Rifleman (4 HE, 2 smoke), Level 6 Medic (6 smoke), and Level 8 Engineer (3 AT, 2 HE, 1 smoke). Existing loadouts also change. Based on playtest feedback, the default US Anti-Tank primary is now the M1 Carbine; the default US Tank Commander primary is the M3 Grease gun; every default Crewman role across all factions gets a Blowtorch; the default Engineer primary for both British factions is now the Rifle No 4 MK 1; and German DAK M43 grenades are replaced with M24 grenades for historical accuracy.

Fire-mode selectors are coming to historically appropriate weapons, letting players swap between semi-auto and full-auto (slow and fast auto on the BAR). The list includes the MG34, FG42, STG 44, M1918A2 BAR, M1A1 and M1928A1 Thompsons, Bren Gun, Sten Gun Mk.II, Mk.II (Canadian), Mk.V, and PPSH 41. The STG 44 and Bren get slight recoil increases, and a bug that applied almost all Bren recoil as screen shake is fixed.

Conquest also arrives in Update 21, following significant iteration since the earlier Conquest v2 playtest. For armor, the Luchs is reworked to better fight enemy armor while keeping its anti-infantry role; tank smoke launchers produce larger, longer-lasting smoke screens; and a balance pass touches HE splash radius, ammunition counts, and fuel costs. Buildable AT guns turn faster, have updated rotation limits, and received a damage pass. The default HQ SPA auto-respawns 7 minutes and 30 seconds after destruction without counting toward the vehicle limit, and the gunner seat gets a single zoom level.

See the first Update 21 Experimental Branch dev brief for an early look at other changes.

Update 22 is planned for later this year and returns to the Eastern Front with Lake Balaton. It also introduces a new vehicle class with serious firepower, though details are still under wraps. Seelow Heights remains slated for 2027, alongside community-requested features and improvements in the next roadmap.