Atomic Heart: Blood on Crystal landed on April 16, 2026, and it closes out the Atomic Pass as the fourth and final story DLC for Mundfish's alternate-Soviet shooter. If you've been sitting on the fence about returning to Facility 3826, or you're picking up the whole package fresh with the new Ultimate Edition, this guide covers everything from the core combat loop to PC requirements and which edition actually makes sense to buy.
What is Blood on Crystal?
Blood on Crystal is a first-person shooter RPG expansion that drops you back inside Facility 3826 with new story areas, new enemy types, and new boss encounters built on top of Atomic Heart's existing foundation. According to the product listing on Steam, the DLC expands the single-player narrative with fresh cinematic set pieces and branching moments that push the lore further than the base game left it.
This is strictly a solo experience. There is no multiplayer or co-op component anywhere in Atomic Heart or its DLC content, as confirmed across multiple storefronts. If you were hoping for a cooperative mode, it isn't here.
Polymer glove ability screen
How does the combat system work in Blood on Crystal?
The combat formula carries over from the base game: firearms, melee tools, and the protagonist's polymer glove all feed into every encounter. The glove provides elemental and utility abilities that you'll want to mix with your weapons rather than treat as a secondary option. Enemies in Facility 3826 have specific weaknesses, and the bio-mechanical design of the environments means positioning matters as much as raw firepower.
The crafting and upgrade systems reward players who experiment. Hoarding materials and sticking to one weapon type is the slower path. Spreading resources across a few complementary tools and upgrading the glove alongside your firearms tends to open up more options against the tougher boss encounters the DLC focuses on.
Don't neglect the polymer glove upgrades early. New enemy types introduced in Blood on Crystal are specifically designed around the power-weapon combination, so a fully upgraded glove makes boss phases significantly more manageable.
The expansion also introduces additional glove skins as part of the Atomic Pass content, which are cosmetic but worth noting if you're buying in through a higher-tier edition.
Glove upgrade crafting system
What platforms is Blood on Crystal available on?
According to storefront data compiled from Steam, Epic, and PlayStation Network, Blood on Crystal runs on:
The base Atomic Heart game is required to run the DLC on all platforms. Physical copies of the new Ultimate Edition (which bundles the base game and all four Atomic Pass DLCs) were announced alongside the Blood on Crystal launch for current-gen consoles.
Blood on Crystal is DLC, not a standalone release. You must own the base Atomic Heart to access it regardless of platform.
What are the PC system requirements?
The DLC shares the base game's PC specifications. Based on published requirements from Mundfish, here's what you're looking at:
Mundfish specifically recommends installing on an SSD for the best loading performance. The bio-mechanical environments are dense, and spinning drives will show their age during transitions between areas.
These specs are based on the base game's published PC requirements. Running at higher resolutions or with ray tracing enabled will push demands beyond the recommended tier listed above.
Which edition should you buy?
There are a few ways to get Blood on Crystal depending on where you're starting from:
- Own the base game already: Buy Blood on Crystal individually, or grab the Atomic Pass if you haven't picked up the earlier DLCs.
- New to Atomic Heart entirely: The Ultimate Edition collects the base game plus all four Atomic Pass story DLCs (Annihilation Instinct, Trapped in Limbo, Enchantment Under the Sea, and Blood on Crystal) along with extras. It's available digitally and physically for current-gen consoles.
- Gold / Premium editions: These were sold before Blood on Crystal launched and include the Atomic Pass, so they cover all four DLCs including this one.
The Atomic Pass release timeline for context:
Ultimate Edition purchase options
What games is Blood on Crystal similar to?
The base game and its DLC are consistently compared to BioShock, Prey, and Control across multiple sources, including the Wikipedia entry for Atomic Heart. The comparison is accurate: all three blend first-person shooting with power-based abilities and lean heavily on environmental storytelling. If you finished any of those games and wanted more of that specific flavor, Blood on Crystal sits in the same space.
The alternate-Soviet aesthetic gives it a distinct visual identity that separates it from those comparisons, but the mechanical DNA is familiar enough that fans of the genre will find their footing quickly.
Accessibility and control options
Post-launch patches to Atomic Heart added several accessibility improvements that carry through to the DLC. According to Focus Entertainment's support documentation, available options include:
- Colorblind modes
- Adjustable subtitle and UI size
- Auto-QTE and auto-heal toggles
- FOV adjustment
- Difficulty presets
- Controller remapping (expanded through updates)
Some of these features were not present at launch and were patched in afterward, so make sure your game is fully updated before assuming they're unavailable.
Steam Deck support and controller remapping have been expanded through post-launch updates. Check the current patch notes for the latest accessibility additions, as this list has grown since the base game released in 2023.
Critical reception
As of April 17, 2026, no critic scores had been published on Metacritic for Blood on Crystal specifically. The base game sits in the mid-60s to mid-70s range across platforms depending on the outlet, with PC versions generally scoring higher than console ports. Whether the DLC lands closer to the top or bottom of that range will become clearer as reviews accumulate.
The base game's reception was mixed-to-positive rather than a slam dunk, so going in with calibrated expectations makes sense. The strengths (combat variety, atmosphere, glove abilities) and weaknesses (some pacing issues, uneven writing) of the original will largely carry through to the expansion.
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