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Hell Let Loose’s Winter Update Will Head to Lake Balaton With Seelow Heights Delayed to 2027

Update 21 will add Conquest, rifle grenades, fire-mode selectors, a Soviet ROKS 2 flamethrower, and a broad armor pass.

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A frozen lakeside landscape with reeds and trees in Hell Let Loose's Lake Balaton map.

Hell Let Loose’s roadmap has changed course. Seelow Heights will not arrive until 2027, while the winter update will instead take players to Lake Balaton, a new Eastern Front battlefield set in Hungary during Operation Spring Awakening.

In the latest Steam announcement, the team also outlined the next two major updates, including new weapons, loadouts, vehicles, combat systems, and continued work on bugs and performance across all platforms.

Seelow Heights moves to 2027

Seelow Heights was previously selected for inclusion after a community vote, but its release has now been moved into 2027. The extra development time will be used to give the map more time in production before it reaches players.

Lake Balaton will take its place in the winter update. Experimental Branch sessions are planned over the coming months, giving players a chance to test the frozen map before its full release. The team also said it is preparing the 2027 roadmap, with community-requested features, fixes, and performance work already being prioritized.

Update 21 adds new weapons and Conquest

Update 21 will be the next major update for Hell Let Loose. Its weapon additions include the iron-sighted M1903A3 Springfield for the US, a model update for the existing M1903A4 Springfield Sniper, and the Soviet ROKS 2 flamethrower.

Two Springfield rifles displayed with ammunition

Rifle grenade launchers will also arrive with the update. The M7 will attach to the M1 Garand, the Schiessbecher will be available for the Karabiner 98k, and the No.1 MK I Cup Discharger will be used with the SMLE No.1 MK III EY by British and Canadian forces. These weapons can fire high-explosive, smoke, and anti-tank grenades, and Update 21 will allow them to be fired from the hip or shoulder. Planting rifle grenades and using them for indirect fire is planned for Update 22.

The new weapons will come through additional level-based loadouts. US Riflemen will receive a Level 6 option with the M1903A3 Springfield and an explosive ammo box, while Soviet Support players will get the ROKS 2 at Level 8. Appropriate Rifleman, Medic, and Engineer roles across the factions will also receive rifle grenade loadouts with different mixes of high-explosive, smoke, and anti-tank ammunition.

Several existing loadouts will change as well. The default US Anti-Tank role will use the M1 Carbine, and the default US Tank Commander will carry the M3 Grease Gun. Default Crewman roles across every faction will include a Blowtorch, British Engineer loadouts will use the Rifle No 4 MK 1, and German DAK M43 grenades will be replaced with the M24 grenade.

Conquest will join Hell Let Loose with Update 21 after going through multiple rounds of testing and adjustments. The team has incorporated feedback from earlier Experimental Branch sessions, and the mode’s previous rules were detailed in Dev Brief #216 on Conquest v2.

Fire selectors and armor changes

Historically appropriate weapons will receive fire-mode selectors, allowing players to switch between semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. The system will cover the MG34, FG42, STG 44, M1918A2 BAR, M1A1 Thompson, M1928A1 Thompson, Bren Gun, Sten Gun Mk.II, Sten Gun Mk.II (Canadian), Sten Gun Mk.V, and PPSH 41. The BAR will use slow and fast automatic settings instead of semi-automatic and fully automatic modes.

The STG 44 and Bren will receive slightly higher recoil to account for the new selectors. A separate Bren issue will also be fixed so that its recoil is not represented mostly through visual screen shake.

Armor changes will cover more than one vehicle or weapon. The Luchs will be reworked to perform better against enemy armor while retaining its anti-infantry role. Tank smoke launchers will create larger screens that last longer, and the wider vehicle balance pass will address high-explosive splash radius, ammunition counts, fuel costs, and other values.

Self Propelled Artillery vehicles will receive a single zoom level for the Gunner seat. The default SPA at each team’s HQ will automatically respawn 7 minutes and 30 seconds after being destroyed, and that vehicle will not count toward the team’s maximum vehicle limit.

Buildable anti-tank guns will turn faster, receive updated rotation angle limits, and get a new damage balance pass. These changes are planned to make them more useful against enemy armor without separating them from the wider vehicle balance work.

Update 22 brings Lake Balaton and new vehicles

Update 22 is planned for later in 2026 and will return the fight to the Eastern Front. Lake Balaton will portray the final months of the war in Europe, with frozen terrain designed around the scale and combined-arms combat of Hell Let Loose.

Frozen Lake Balaton terrain with trees and reeds

Experimental Branch playtests for Lake Balaton will be announced in the months ahead. Update 22 will also introduce a new class of vehicle, although the team has not revealed what it will be yet. The teaser confirms that the additions will bring heavy firepower to the battlefield without giving away their exact designs.

For now, the development focus remains on delivering Update 21 and Update 22, improving performance across all platforms, and collecting feedback for the next roadmap. What do you think of the move to Lake Balaton and the delay for Seelow Heights? Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

Fight in the most iconic battles of the Second World War, including El Alamein, Stalingrad, Omaha Beach, and Foy! This is combat at a whole new scale.. with lumbering tanks dominating the battlefield, and crucial supply chains fuelling the frontlines, you are a cog in the machine of colossal combined arms warfare. Hell Let Loose puts you in the chaos of war, complete with deep player-controlled vehicles, a dynamically evolving front line, and crucial unit-focused gameplay that commands the tide of battle.