Cairn’s First DLC Is FREE and Out NOW — New Climbs, a Playable Marco, and Free Roam Just Hit PS5 and PC

Mount Kami just got bigger, and the price of admission is zero. The Game Bakers have surprise-released On the Trail: Deep Water, the first DLC for their acclaimed climbing survival game Cairn, and it is available right now, completely FREE, on PC and PlayStation 5. No season pass, no deluxe-edition ransom — if you own Cairn, you own a whole new prequel chapter, three fresh places to climb, and a game-changing new way to explore the mountain itself.

According to the original announcement from The Game Bakers, Deep Water steps back in time to tell a prequel story starring Aava and Marco — and for the first time in Cairn, Marco is playable. The trials at the heart of the expansion were set by Otto Mondo, a legendary climber whose challenges push both characters to their limits. Cairn has always been a game about the bond between climbers as much as the rock in front of them, and a prequel built around its two central figures is exactly the story this world had left to tell.

Three New Places to Fall From

The DLC adds three brand-new climbing spots, each with its own character. There is a gym, where technique can be honed hold by hold in controlled conditions. There is a towering sea stack, rising straight out of the water with the wind doing its best to peel you off. And there is a rugged island climb suspended over deep water — the location that gives the expansion its name, and the one where every slip carries the longest, wettest consequence in the game. The Game Bakers estimate the DLC runs about three hours on a first playthrough and roughly five hours for completionists, a substantial chapter stacked on top of a base game that already offers around 15 hours, or 18 to 20 for players determined to wring out every route.

Free Roam Changes Mount Kami Forever

Arguably the bigger news ships alongside the DLC in a free update for every owner: Free Roam mode. Mount Kami can now be explored freely, with the ability to fast-travel between bivouacs you have already visited — and you can tackle the mountain as Marco. Cairn’s campaign is a tense, linear ascent where every decision about food, chalk and rest carries permanent weight. Free Roam strips that pressure away and leaves the pure joy of the climbing itself: revisit your favorite walls, hunt for lines you missed, and experience the mountain at your own pace. It is the mode veterans have wanted since launch, and it transforms Kami from a gauntlet into a playground.

New Climbers: Your Rope Is Ready

If you have somehow not climbed yet, the timing could not be better. The Game Bakers are running the biggest discount in the game’s history — 30% off the base game — to mark the DLC’s launch. Cairn comes from the studio behind Furi and Haven, and it has spent the year landing on Game of the Year lists thanks to its tactile, limb-by-limb climbing system, its ruthless survival management and a story that treats ambition and obsession with rare honesty. The base game is available now on Steam and PlayStation 5, and a Nintendo Switch 2 version is coming soon for players who prefer their summits portable.

Free content seems to be today’s theme across the industry — survival fans are also eating well, as Arrakis Is FREEZING — Dune: Awakening’s FREE Blood and Ice Expansion Launches December 1, and Offline Play and Cross-Play Are Finally Coming shows. And for more proof that patience pays in gaming, see After Nearly a Decade, Witchbrook Finally Has a Release Date — and It’s Coming to PS5 Too. But tonight belongs to the mountain. Deep Water is free, it is out now, and Mount Kami is waiting. Chalk up.

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