More info:
The Long Dark is Available at 50% Off For a Short Time – May 15, 2016 
The Long Dark® Story Mode to Launch in Spring 2016 – December 19, 2015 
The Long Dark Celebrates a Year of Early Access – September 29, 2015 
Major Update to The Long Dark Early Access Announced – September 18, 2015 
The Long Dark is Launched on Early Access – September 23, 2014 
The Long Dark: “Echoes Trailer, Screens Info – September 9, 2014 
The Long Dark New Trailer, Screen, Concept Art – January 23, 2014 
The Long Dark: Update – December 4, 2013 
The Long Dark Videos, Screens & Info – November 3, 2013 

Visit the Steam page
Visit the GOG Games In Development page 
Visit the Xbox Game Preview page

I haven’t been following The Long Dark for awhile, now. I wrote nine articles about the game between November 29, 2013 and May 15, 2016; links and descriptions are included above. Then…nothing.

Until I received today’s announcement concerning the impending launch of Version 1.0, I thought the game must have already been released at some point. However, as of this writing, The Long Dark’s Story Mode (renamed WINTERMUTE) and Sandbox Mode (renamed Survivor Mode) are still in Steam Early Access (Windows, Mac, Linux), GOG Games In Development (Windows, Mac, Linux) and Xbox Game Preview (Xbox One). (Note: Sony has no “early access” program for Playstation, so the upcoming August 1st launch will be the game’s initial release on PS4.)

The Long Dark‘s Sandbox (Survivor) Mode, a free-form open-world game, debuted on Steam Early Access in September 2014 and on Xbox Game Preview in June 2015. Regarding current status, let me quote from Hinterland’s FAQs, which are full of all kinds of useful info…

Q: You’ve published a pretty big “wish list” of Sandbox features in the past. Are you still planning to implement any of those, or is the list irrelevant now that the 1.0 version is launching on August 1st?

A: The “wish list” was always meant to be aspirational, and our heavy focus on preparing our launch content for WINTERMUTE definitely impacted our development bandwidth for Survivor Mode (AKA Sandbox Mode) in the first half of 2017. We didn’t manage to get all the new “Sandbox” features and content into the game that we would have liked to for our 1.0 launch, but we have added a lot of new stuff, even for Survivor Mode players who aren’t that interested in WINTERMUTE. We still have a lot of things we’d like to add to the game, in terms of mechanics and content, and we’d like to continue updating The Long Dark with updates well into the future. The frequency and scope of these updates will depend partly on how players respond to WINTERMUTE.

As previously mentioned, the first two episodes of WINTERMUTE — the five-episode first season of Story Mode — will launch August 1, 2017. The remaining three episodes will be released during the remainder of 2017 and part of 2018.

All five episodes will be included in the game’s purchase. Story Mode represents the story of bush pilot Will Mackenzie and Dr. Astrid Greenwood as they explore the Northern Canadian wilderness in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster that has plunged their world into “the long dark.”

You’ll play Mackenzie in Episodes One and Two, Dr. Greenwood in Episode Three, and switch between the two characters in Episodes Four and Five. Each episode should take 4-6 hours to complete.

Upon release, the price of the game will increase from $19.99 to $34.99 (all platforms).

If you’re as confused as I am, you might want to check out the following:
The Long Dark website
The game’s Store page on Steam 
The Long Dark FAQs
The Developer Diary
Launch Date Announcement