In just over a week's time, GSC Game World will release STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the long-awaited follow-up in the studio's cult horror FPS series. The last installment we saw was Call of Pripyat way back in 2009, so it's been a while.

In preparation for STALKER 2's release, you may need to clear some space on your hard drive. As noted by PC Gamer (and seen on the game's Steam page), you'll need storage capacity t?o the tune of 150GB. It also looks like you will definitely need an SSD rather than a much slower HDD, which most people will likely have these days. Still, that's a fair amount of space needed.

To put it into perspective, Black Ops 6 "only" requires 128GB, according to Steam. Call of Duty games are often noteworthy for their hardware requirements, so seeing Heart of Chornobyl asking for about 22GB more than that feels like it's worth mentioning, in case you need to clear some space. While the Xbox site doesn't say, I imagine the console version of STALKER 2 will need the same amount of storage.

The end of a long road

It goes?? without saying that the game has been in development for a very long time. Perhaps one of the biggest setbacks was GSC getting caught up in the middle of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian invasion forced the team to relocate to Prague, where work continued.

Outside the war, the turmoil didn't end. The studio announced in June 2023 that hackers were leaking test footage from the game. Given the delays, fearing for their lives, and cyberattacks, it's by some miracle of determination that STALKER 2 is almost upon us, at last.

In fact, a few days ago, an announcement was made that said it had finally "gone gold." This means the project is now at the point where the developer feels it's ready to launch. And launch it shall. It's been a trying time for the people at GSC, but by God, they've pulled through. Given the blows that have been dealt, maybe making room for a 150GB game isn't such a bad thing after? all.

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While it may seem rather quaint and simplistic compared to modern hardcore tactical shooters like Escape From Tarkov, it's a matter of fact that STALKER went above and beyond with its guns back in the day. That trend is primed to continue, too, if STALKER 2's new combat gameplay trailer is any indication.

In fact, GSC Game World has now taken STALKER's handling of weapons to its logical extreme: rails, M-LOKs, and all the other customization goodness now rule supreme. As Smoking Barrels aptly shows, you can safely expect STALKER 2 to cater to the vast majority of your gunplay needs. Need to switch a weapon's caliber to accommodate less exotic ammunition? For ??sure. Want to slap a snazzy underbarrel shotgun to a high-grade sniper rifle? Why not! The Zone's? your oyster, from the look of things.

STALKER 2: Smoking Barrel gameplay trailer shows us how guns and attachments work

In the broadest possible sense, we now have a pretty solid idea of how STALKER 2's weapons will function:

• Low-grade modifications can be done on the fly (e.g., attaching an optics system or an aiming module).
• Complex modifications are completed at a technician's table.
• There's a non-insignificant amount of complexity related to the physics of firing a gun, as it used to be in the old STALKER games.
• Weapons degrade and jam, depending on their state.

Most of these things, granted, we did see coming. It's still good to see them present and accounted for. In fact, STALKER 2 is seemingly taking things further in the direction of the more hardcore GAMMA and Anomaly mods when it comes to gunplay. Classic, baseline STALKER titles only ever featured a single type of optics per weapon type (SUSATs for NATO arms, PVS-14 for Warsaw pact guns), a universal silencer, and two thematically appropriate underbarrel launchers. Heart of Chornobyl has already shown off a bevy of ?exotic attachments, on the other hand, and seems to have modernized the upgrading systems across the b?oard.

In a Reddit thread discussing the featured Smoking Barrel trailer, GSC developers have also shared some information on how STALKER 2's HUD will work. According to the community manager, the HUD can be fully customized depending on your preference, going so far as to only have an ammo counter and a health/stamina display shown at any given time. Since the old STALKER games of yore had? an era-appropriate crusty U?I going on, this, too, is excellent news.

I would like to complain a tad about the AI shown off in this trailer, however. In the trailer, none of the enemies appear to pose a serious threat and seemingly walk straight into Skif's firing lines willy-nilly. Since we know that A-Life plays a big part in STALKER 2, I believe this is ??just?? trailer-tier AI being what it is for demonstratio??n purposes. The community manager, of course, claims this is the case, so that's nice.

With STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl''s November 20 release date drawing ever closer, it genuinely seems like we've finally entered GSC's final marketing push. It's worth remembering that STALKER 2 suffered a whole slew of various pushbacks over the ?years, ?so it shouldn't be strange if the community is still uncertain whether it's fin??ally coming out. I myself am still a tad cynical, but I can't help but feel like the hype is finally on point. Let's see how this pans out.

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Despite my own initial skepticism, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is shaping up to be the tour-de-force t?hat ?both the developer GSC Game World and the franchise's fans deserve. The November 20 launch date is seemingly set in stone, too, with pre-order goodies now finally shown off.

As exciting as news about STALKER 2's mod-kit and A-Life handling might be, who wouldn't get thrilled by a fancy new gun skin? Notably, while we have known for quite a while now that there'd be a snazzy set of pre-order bonuses available to those who pre-purchase STALKER 2, the specifics have been fairly hazy. That's all in the past now that GSC has shown off an appropriately tuned VSS Vintorez, the legendary Tourist stalker suit, and a backpack patch, of all things. These items will be available for discovery in-game to all pre-order owners across all platforms, so it's worth highlighting them.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl early bird pre-order digital content shown off, and it's cool stuff

Skins are, obviously, not going to be particularly relevant to one's core gameplay experience in playing STALKER 2, but they sure are lovely to look at. More specifica??lly, the pre-order boons include:

• Gvintar/Vintar DMR (As VSS marksman rifle) with custom attachments and a built-in Geiger counter.
• "Tourist" Sunrise suit of armor with appropriate upgrades.
• "Early Bird" survivalist backpack (with a fancy sewn-on patch).
• Bonus Campfire content, including guitar tunes and stories.

Nothing too wild or ridiculous, then. My only hope is that this pack of g??oodies is later bundled into a post-launch DLC of sorts, as it'd be a shame to have it permanently locked behind pre-order/ea??rly bird offers.

The big question, though, is how these items will be handled in-game. To have a VSS handed to you in the early stages of a STALKER game is... uh, definitely a choice. The featured armor set, too, ap?pears to have increased inventory capacity and upgraded protection against anomalies, and this could very well end up kil??ling the early-game survival experience.

I expect that GSC will have foreseen this as a potential problem, however. I expect that all three of these items will instead be foun?d a bit later on, as the player progresses through the early-game gauntlet. We'll have to wait and see, however.

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I might've been a tad too pessimistic in my belief that STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl might have problems maintaining a modding scene. Notably, a recent interview has revealed that GSC has changed up Unreal Engine 5 significantly to support STALKER 2, and A-Life is a part of it.

RadioTimes recently had the opportunity to visit GSC Game World's Prague office to talk shop with STALKER 2's technical producer, Yevhenii Kulyk. According to Kulyk, GSC was basically forced to rework certain aspects of Unreal Engine 5 for it to be able to accommodate STALKER 2's sci-fi take on the Exclusion Zone. The game's build of UE5 is customized to the point that devs refer to it as "5.1 GSC," apparently, and Kulyk said that his team "had to adapt and [rewrite] and upgrade some tools that were provided by�the ?basic Unreal Engine to fit our needs to c?reate [this] world."

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl may break the Unreal 5 modding curse

This is exciting for a variety of reasons, not in the least because everything suggests GSC might've successfully transplanted the impeccable vibes of the STALKER games into Unreal, of all engines. One of the most notable of these changes has to do with A-Life: an oblique and questionably implemented AI system that has, arguably, acted as the main reason for STALKER's general popularity.

According to Kulyk, A-Life is present and accounted for in the Unreal-driven STALKER 2. He explained how the game's AI functions in practice, even when the player isn't around: "First of all, they have [offline mode]. [Constantly] some events are happening in the back end. So you may notice that during your gameplay. And of course, you may ?notice [the] results of maybe some firefights or maybe some mutant encounter that was attacked by NPCs or vice versa," he said.

"So they have their, like, let's say ?natural habitat areas, and some of these factions, or some of these monsters may roam around the map and try to catch the players. So there's constantly life in front of the player, and, of course, [w??here they aren't looking]."

For those who aren't familiar with the old STALKER games' AI, this is more-or-less exactly how A-Life worked there as well. Of course, mods such as Anomaly and Call of Chernobyl helped amp up A-Life to remarkable levels, but STALKER 2 may deliver something similar by default.

Not that modding is off the table at all, mind. Kulyk suggests that STALKER 2 will have a seriously impressive set of modding tools available from early on: "We're basically creating and preparing the very big toolkit that will be that will provide the mod makers with basically all nece??ssary tools to create mods from, like the smallest one to, like, big, total conversions," he told RadioTimes.

As a long, long-time fan of the franchise, A-Life and modding toolkit details were the two last tidbits ?I needed to kickstart the hype train. Now, let??'s just hope GSC delivers the goods.

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There's an air of tentative excitement around next month's release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The final batch of previews is now pouring in, and amidst it, some new information straight from the horse's mouth. For example, we now know that the 201?0 build was an entirely different beast.

In more concrete terms, some of you may well remember that Heart of Chornobyl is the second time a STALKER 2 has been announced. Back in 2010, when the three classic STALKER games were still more-or-less the talk of the town, GSC Game World announced an honest-to-goodness STALKER 2 with a targeted launch window of 2012. That didn't pan out, obviously, but according to GSC CEO Ievgen Grygorovych, "[the team] didn't take anything from the first attempt" for the new STALKER 2.

The 2010 version of STALKER 2 will be left to the annals of time

In a small interview with Eurogamer posted as part of the publication's final STALKER 2 preview, Grygorovych said that absolutely none of the development work done on the 2010 build of STALKER 2 has been re-used on Shadow of Chernobyl. "The standard changed, and we couldn’t take that content we had previously," sai??d Ievgen. He explained that the development ground to a halt in the first place because the original studio head and Ievgen'??s brother, Sergiy Grygorovych, found it "exhausting" at the time.

In practice, this means absolutely everything that GSC Game World had created for the 2010 version of STALKER 2 had to be thrown out: technology, gameplay mechanics, story elements, and so on. "We were doing it from scratch based on the STALKER 1 lore," said Ievgen.

This tidbit is unlikely to be all that interesting to franchise newcomers, but to those of us who have kept a close eye on STALKER over the years, it may bring a sense of closure. I still remember getting excited over the fact that STALKER 2 was being developed back then, only for th?e hype to deflate as it became clear that nothing would come of it.

For what it's worth, I don't think this hypothetical STALKER 2 �which Destructoid covered with a delightfully cheeky little article at the time �would have been a meaningful enough step forward in the grand scheme of things. Both GSC and the broader gaming community are more respectful of gaming legacies today than they might have been back then, and Heart of Chornobyl appears to be an honest-?to-goodness love letter to the o??ld titles.

Heck, if nothing else, STALKER's most beloved modding developments only came about after GSC Game World dropped the project. Who knows whether that would've happened in the first place had modders moved on to a new title so early? Modding is, of course, on thin ice with STALKER 2's Unreal Engine 5, but that's a story for a different article.

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Though the news that STALKER 2 would be pushed back to late November was quite painful, GSC Game World's attempt to sweeten the deal with a developer deep dive worked. We got a 30-minute gameplay session and now know for sure: this is a STALKER game through and through.

Explaining why this is the case is not easy, however. The last official STALKER game - Call of Pripyat - launched back in 2009/2010, depending on your region, and from that point onwards, mods have been the key thing that kept players coming back for more. Sure, the core gameplay loop was the crux of the STALKER experience, but fans the franchise has accrued ?since have been playing standalone mods more often than not.

Stuff like GAMMA and Anomaly, for example, are what dominate the STALKER discussion boards, and up until the developer deep dive, there was an argument to be made that this is what GSC Game World would choose to emulate in the end. After all, mods are what the community wants, so why not give that to us? Well, I am thrilled to report that STALKER 2 hasn't been lost to the ultra-gloomy, super-hardcore tactical shooter niche that both GAMMA and Anomaly subscribe to.

STALKER 2 is STALKER, not a glorified mod

I was taken aback by how true-to-form STALKER 2 was in the new footage, honestly. It was such a potently eye-opening sequence, in fact, that it helped me remember just how much mods changed the old STALKER games over the years. It's kind of poetic, really, in that the STALKER experience mutated over time in much the same way The Zone did. Now, however, with STALKER 2, we're absolutely gett??ing an authentic throwback, and one that was seemingly clever enough to know what to toss and what to keep.

I'm not being concrete enough, though, I know, and it's bound to be confusing to those who didn't play old STALKER titles as they came out. It's the opposite of a death by a thousand cuts: we're once again getting a weirdly exotic arsenal of weapons that shies away from genre tropes in lieu of originality. Enemies once again pop up on the mini-map, and the sound and detection meters whir away in the background. Seemingly unbreakable crates and metal cases give way when you hit them with a knife, and the whole game is - most certainly - not just another hardcore tactical shooter in the vein of Escape From Tarkov.

The old STALKER games were exceedingly janky: some of the most prominent examples of the Eurojank niche, in fact. Your binoculars used to highlight every living being in your sights, and healing was quick??, easy, and readily accessible. Guns once jammed willy-nilly and broke apart in mere hours, and you genuinely didn't have to lug around 30 different healing items just to stay alive.

Story is a huge consideration

One of the more curious, albeit sensible, changes that standalone mods delivered to STALKER is that they are usually entirely sandbox and free-form, with either an extremely lightweight and unimportant narrative or skippable. This is perfectly valid for a mod: there's usually no budget or need to come up with stories and cutscenes, after all. The thing is, however, that STALKER games always had cutscenes and, in most cases, didn't really ?all??ow you to go wherever you wanted whenever you wanted.

The bit that often gets forgotten about both Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky is that their stories were largely linear, and there was no way to continue playing after you were done with them. Call of Pripyat introduced the concept of pos??t-campaign content to the series, giving us the sort o??f free-form gameplay the series always deserved.

This sets the precedent for STALKER 2 to be way more linear and deliberate as its story goes on, and the fact that there are three hours' worth of cutscenes in the game may suggest as much, too. STALKER has always had a story to tell, and the new title won't shy away from this in favor of sandbox gameplay. We're not getting a Sons of the Forest type of thing, is what I'm getting at. Inevitably, this will disappoint some people, and I suspect it's going to be the fans of GAMMA and Anomaly who might get caught in the crossfire.

Improvements where they make sense, not just for the sake of change

At the same time, of course, STALKER 2 is obviously improving upon its predecessors in some key ways. We can mantle, for one, and there's a fancy animation for eating, healing, and otherwise interacting with our inventories. It's good, it's fun, and it's decidedly less hardcore than a portion of the community might've expected out of the game?.

I'll be honest here: I was skeptical about STALKER 2 until this latest devblog. I didn't think GSC Game W??orld had it in them to faithfully recreate the bits that made the old games what they were. After the blog, though, I'm almost positive this will be true to its immense legacy.

The point of this article, though, is that there will be growing pains even if the game executes its vision absolutely perfectly. Since we haven't had an official STALKER game in a decade and a half, the understandable worry was that GSC might've taken too many pages from the hardcore tactical shooter mods released in the interim. One gamer's worry is another gamer's hope, though, and those who expected to get a survivalist bonanza are almost certainly going to be disappointed in what is, compared to stuff like GAMMA, decidedly less punishing.

Don't believe me? Take 30 minutes out of your day and watch the gameplay deep dive. From the delightfully weird franchise-classic mutants to the organic way both exploration and artifact hunting work, it's precisely how I imagined STALKER 2 would look years ago. Who knew it might en?d up crystallizing i?n the end!

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After many years of waiting, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl (to give it its full title) is not far from release. Admittedly, the developer did have to delay the game once again, but this final ?push should hopefully make ?the long-awaited follow-up even sweeter.

However, we must be coming to the end now, as GSC Game World has announced that STALKER 2 will be at this year's Gamescom. In a ?recent post on X, the studio announced that the demo "will await you in the public zone" at the event, which kicks off later this month.

The fact that the post mentions the Xbox booth su?ggests that it's going to be the Xbox Series X|S version of the game. Not much else has been said about the demo, so if you are attending Gamescom 2024, you may be able to get your Exclusion Zone?-based survival horror kicks whilst you're there.

No more delays for STALKER 2

Along with GSC Game World, other develop??ers and publishers wh?o will be attending Gamescom 2024 include: Capcom, EA, Blizzard Entertainment, Ubisoft, SEGA, Konami, THQ Nordic, and many, many more. The event is being held at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany between August 21 and August 25.

However, not all will be in attendance. Sony recently confirmed that PlayStation won't be at Gamescom this year. Neither will Nintendo, which means there will be no ann?ouncement for the anticipated follow-up to the Switch (which e??veryone is just referring to as the Switch 2 until we hear otherwise).

Back to STALKER 2. It's good news that there will be a public demo available at the event, as it also means it's definitely close to finishing development. Although it was also at Gamescom 2023. Having said that, it's been a very long time since there was a new entry in the series, and the likes of Chernobylite can only pick up some much of the slack.

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Did last month's fancy STALKER 2 trailer really make you want to play the game, too? Well, tough luck, because we're getting one more pushback, as per the developer GSC Game World's official announcement. The silver lining is that it's not that big of a pushback, all things considered.

As of now, STALKER 2 is slated to release in late-ish November due to GSC Game World needing a few more months to polish up the "unexpected anomalies" that have cropped up along the way. It's not an ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination, but it is what it is, and it's a simple fact of the matter that the studio has been beset by problems for quite a long while now. Between wars and fire-related problems,?? it's not li?ke the previous pushbacks have been unwarranted.

STALKER 2 is now due to launch on November 20

GSC Game World's Game Director Yevhen Grygorovych didn't mince any words in his recent email announcement: "We know ??you might be tired of waiting, and we truly appreciate your patience. These two additional months will give us the chance to fix more “unexpected anomalies�(or simply “bugs� as you call them). We are always grateful for your ongoing support and understanding - it means the world to us. We’re just as eager as you are to finally release the game and for you to experience it for yourself," he said. With the game now due to release late in November, it's an un??derstandable measure, albeit not one that's going to be taken kindly by everyone in the community.

For context, STALKER 2 has been postponed a fair number of times, the latest having been given out early in 2023. This time around, GSC Game World has tak??en to joking on its own expense with the cheeky video featured above. It's c?ute, for what it is, and it might make the news easier to digest for some fans.

??Another tidbit that might make this whole ordeal a tiny bit better is the fact that we're getting a load of new ga?me information materials on August 12. As per GSC Game World's announcement, we should expect:

• Interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of how the sausage is being made
• New in-game footage featuring "world overview[s], various locations, gameplay and cutscenes"
• And a full gameplay walkthrough of one of STALKER 2's quests

Not bad, right? And don't forget: if it's STALKER-style vibes you're after, you can always try jumping into Escape From Tarkov's single-player mod, now with full Pokémon Trading Card Game (collectible) suppor??t.

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If you've been following along with the development of Stalker 2, you'll be well aware of the turmoil the studio has had to endure. With GSC Game World having to flee to Prague to escape the Russian invasion of Ukra?ine, the future of the long-awa??ited horror FPS remained uncertain at one point.

We know it had to be delayed for fairly obvious reasons, pushing the release date back to September 5. Now, the latest trailer has been released, and it's really whetting my appetite for Heart of Chornobyl.

The gloomy backdrop of the Exclusion Zone has never looked prettier than in the "Time of Opportunities" teaser the developer put out yesterday. While many of us strongly suspect Stalker 2 is going to be qui??te s?omething, I now cannot wait for it to finally arrive.

Heart and soul

That's not to say I was ignorant of the game until now. Though I admit, I haven't really played any of the other entries in the series, aside from a brief stint of the first game. But that doesn't mean it hasn't intrigued me, largely because it's been fifteen years since GSC released the last installment, Call of Pripyat.

At any rate, the new trailer really shows off what's almost certainly going to be a pretty solid horror FPS. I know I'm not alone in saying that it gives me mad Chernobylite vibes, which I have played and did enjoy.

It has, indeed, been a long and worrisome road for the development team, but whatever tribulations have come their way, they've remained steadfast in their completion of Stalker 2. I truly hope it pays off for them, because it looks fantastic. Look, just go wishlist the game on Steam already.

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Three classic STALKER games (Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat) are bound to ?be released on Xbox and PlayStation consoles for the first time. And better ye??t, it's happening today.

Confirmed during today's Xbox Partner Showcase, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy is out today for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S via backwards compatibility. The Xbox One version hits today, while a patch is due out later this year to bring additional graphic enhancements and features, per the Xbox Wire post. [Update: After publication, GSC Game Wo??rld confirmed that the collection is coming to PS4 and PS5 in a similar manner. We've updated the article to reflect as much.]

While unprecedented, this move isn't necessarily totally unexpected, as the upcoming STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is still on its way. With the long-awaited sequel bound to drop on September 5, 2024, releasing the three classic PC games on consoles before the big event is an excellent opportunity for GSC Game World to drum up some exc?itement well ahead of time.

The Legends of the Zone

It's going to be particularly interesting to see whether the Legends of the Zone re-release will also launch on PC, and what sort of upgrades might the developer have spliced into the package. Whatever the case may be, it's curious to see whether the mod.io support that GSC plans to roll out for Legends of the Zone will match up to its the massive mod support S.T.A.L.K.E.R. already sees on PC.

Regardless, the ability to play the old STALKER games on consoles is not something we expected to see??, so it's a thrillin??g development no matter what.

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It looks like the upcoming open-world FPS Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is getting another delay. Originally scheduled to be released in 2022,?? the shooter now has a tentative release date of September 5, 2024. According to a video by developer GSC Game World announcing the release date, this is the "final" release date.

Detailing the decision, GSC indicated that thousands of players got the opportunity to play Stalker 2 for the first time during Gamescom 2023. After some playtests, GSC felt the game needed a little more time on the technical side of things. Originally the team was dedicated to releasing Stalker 2 in early 2024, but certain technical ?issues have popped up triggering the new delay.

It's always a bummer when a game gets delayed, especially a highly anticipated one like Stalker 2. But with so much hype around this sequel, it's certainly important for the team to get things just right. The developers have also had a myriad of challenges impacting the development process, so it's very understandable th??at the game has taken a bit longer than expected to release.

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is ??now set to release on Se??ptember 5, 2024 on PC and Xbox Series X|S.

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STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is one that a lot of horror fans have been looking forward to. Whi?le the game is scheduled to release sometime in the first quarter of next year, the developer GSC Game World brings us another teaser.

The dark trailer sees the return of a familiar face. Those who played the 2010 installment, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, will be pleased to see Strider will be making a return for the follow-up. The description underneath the YouTube video also has something pretty interesting and, dare I say, profound: "You cannot kil?l God, just as you cannot get rid of the sky? above."

Ho?pefully, GSC Game World will be able to come to us with a more definite release date soon. For now, the new cinematic trailer should ?keep fans satiated for a bit.

It's been a trying time for GSC

We haven't had a STALKER game for a good while. Over thirteen years, to be precise. This latest entry was originally due for release in 2021, so a lot of people have been waiting a long time for it to drop??.

Things only got worse for the studio. Being based in Ukraine, the team had to pause development on STALKER 2 during the Russian invasion, with the company relocating to Prague to complete the project. Sadly, one of GSC's developer, Volodymyr Yezhov, was killed in action last December.

As it stands, development on the new game in the survival horror FPS series continues to be in full swing. It's also the first one to ditch the developer's own X-Ray Engine and opt for Unreal Engine 5 instead. That seems to be a thing a lot of studios ar?e doing lately.

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There was plenty of excitement when a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. sequel was announc??ed by GSC Game World. Nobody could have predicted just how tumultuous the development cycle would be. The game has faced numerous delays due to the Russian invasion of Ukra?ine which forced the team to quickly relocate from Kyiv to Prague.

This was far from the end of their problems, as they would also suffer cyber attacks originating from Russia. Because of all these hurdles, the game's release date has shifted to 2024. It appears that a n?ew kind of problem has appeared, this time ?in the form of fire.

It was originally reported by the Czech publication Vortex on September 8 that GSC Game World had suffered a fire in their offices. According to PC Gamer, nobody was hurt in the fire, and a GSC represe??ntative has confirmed that the incident is?? under investigation.

[caption id="attachment_403508" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via GSC Game World.[/caption]

Battered but not beaten

In its official Discord server, the studio confirmed a few more details about the fire, including that although the fire was quickly put out, an office floor will need full restoration. Despite the setback, developers remain intent on releasing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and their confidence is motivated by the fact? that they've "dealt with worse than that before."

It's certainly a true statement, as despite escaping a warzone, developers have been able to present a playable demo at this year's Gamescom. Although GSC Game Worl?d has attempted to defend the demo's "imperfect" s?tate, the reception to it has been relatively good.

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GSC Game World's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has had quite an eventful development timeline. Fans were initially excited when the game was announced, though it quickly drew criticism when developers announced that NFTs would be included. The Ukrainian studio ?backtracked o??n this, though it then had to contend with the Russian invasion of Ukraine which resulted in the game's delay.

As revealed in a fact sheet from the studio at Gamescom 2023, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has been delayed yet again, pushing its release date to Q1 ?2024. This may be disappointing news but with a ne??w trailer out, you can rest assured that GSC Game World is still working hard on the upcoming game.

[caption id="attachment_398998" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via GSC Game World.[/caption]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's development has been anything but predictable

It was inevitable that the Ukranian studio would be affected by the ongoing conflict, as it was based in Kyiv. When the invasion began, development was paused as the studio relocated to Prague and employees fled the conflict zone. Some decided to stay and fight alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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The studio has also found itself subject to cyberattacks originating in Russia, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's site was banned from the country after it ceased operations there. De??spite the setbacks, the studio has continued to condemn the Rus??sian invasion while embracing its Ukranian roots.

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On a more positive note, preorders for the game are finally available, which represents some progress. It has also rece??ived positive reception at Gamescom 2023 where a playable demo was available, i?ndicating that the long wait might be worth it.

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It's unfortunate that STALKER 2 never made its April 2022 release date. However, it appears as though the long-awaited FPS horror game from GSC could be launche??????????????????????????d at the start of December, even though there's been no official confirmation.

That's according to the game's listing on German retail website PLAION, as spotted by ex-VGC writer Andrew Marmo. As of this story going live, it looks as though STALKER 2 may be releasing on December 1. That goes for all?? platforms, it seems.

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Of course, the developer hasn't said anything about this, so it's hard to say whether this is accurate information or not. Amazon currently has ?the ?game's release date as December 31, which is likely just a placeholder.

This sounds a bit familiar

Maybe some of you are scratching your heads and thinking, "Wait. Didn't we already get a confirmed launch window?" Why, yes. Back in January 2022, GSC Game World did post on Twitter to say that STALKER 2 was coming D?ecember 8, 2022. Though that was last year, and as you can see, that didn't happen, either.

As such, it?? seems as though ?the release date is probably going to be December, but temper expectations until we get official word.

It's a shame the studio had to push back the upcoming sequel. Much of the delay came from the Russian invasion into Ukraine that begin at the start of 2022, which forced the developer to relocate to Prague.

As such, delaying the release of STALKER 2 was expected but understandable, and most fans are happy to wait a little lon?ger. Hopefully, GSC will make an announcement soon around this p??ossible December 1 release date.

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The Ukrainian team is continuing development as the invasion continues

Today's Xbox Games Extended Showcase closed out with a sobering reminder of the current realities for GSC Game World. The Ukrainian studio has been public about the effect the Russian invasion has had on development. Today the team opened up about it, sharing an emotional update as it confirmed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is moving to 2023.

While the studio shared a new video about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 itself, which you can find here, GSC Game World also shared a dev diary about its current status. The three-??minute video is powerful and a heavy watch, just so you know.

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The video shows the toll that the invasion has taken on its developers and where they live. While some have been able to get out, others have not been able to, or opted to volunteer or even serve in the armed forces. The video shows developers living in small hallways, rushing for bomb shelters, and walking around in destroyed city blocks. One describes how he's unsure whether some of his loved ones are safe or not. It is a heavy reminder of the real toll the?? Russian invasion has taken on average people in Ukraine.

During the update, GSC Game World confirms that it has pushed the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl into 2023.

Development during wartime

The Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022 and has continued for 111 days. It's taken its toll on many Ukrainian citizens including those at GSC Game World and more, as detailed in a report from IGN in May. Many other developers and publishers have called for aid and action in response to the invasion, including withholding their games and services from Russia and Belarus.

Our hearts go out to the GSC Game World team. The studio has shared a link at which you can help provide aid.

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Industry figures are supporting Ukraine and condemning Russia's actions

This week, the Russian military invaded Ukraine, as part of what Russian president Vladimir Putin calls a "special military operation." The invasion and missile strikes have resulted in the displacement and?? death of Ukrainian troops and citizens.

Over the last couple of days, games industry figures, studios, and publishers have been putting their support out for Ukraine. This has included both Ukrainian developers like Frogwares and GSC ??Game World issuing statements on the invasion, and companies across the world calling for support.

GSC Game World, the studio behind the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, shared a special aid account and called on "all of our colleagues in the gaming industry" to share their post. 4A Games, makers of the Metro series of games shared a statement and call for support as well.

"We can't just stand by," Frogwares said on its Twitter account. "Russia attacks our homeland and denies the sovereignty of Ukraine. We are trying to stay safe, but this is war, there are no two ways about it. We call on everyone to ??force Putin to w??ithdraw from our lands."

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Esports organization Natus Vincere, a.k.a. Navi, is based out of Ukraine and also put out a statement and shared a donation link. Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, a Ukrainian player for Natus Vincere's CS:GO team, gave a speech at IEM Katowice calling for peace and solidarity.

Publishers like Crytivo and tinyBuild are also offering help for their Ukrainian employees and partners to get to safety themselves. Esports organization Team Liquid has also opened up housing support for friends an??d colleagues who are stuck and unable to get home.

Developers and publishers have amped up calls for support as well. Polish dev 11 bit studios announced that all profits over the coming week from This War of Mine, on all?? stores and platforms, w??ill go to a special fund for the Ukrainian Red Cross to directly support victims of war.

Amanita Design is donating its next weeks' earnings from Machinarium, CHUCHEL, and Creaks to a nonprofit organization aiding those affected by the invasion. And State of Play will be donating its next weeks' earnings from its games to the ?Ukrainian Red Cross.

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After Bungie CEO Pete Parsons tweeted in support of Ukraine, Bungie announced it is donating 100% of the first 48 hours of its Game2Give drive to aid humanitarian efforts. Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red announced it is donating 1 million PLN to humanitarian aid efforts. Publisher Raw Fury is donating to the Ukrainian Red Cross. And a bundle is currently being put together by developer Brandon Sheffield, with a 50/50 split for?? U?krainian support and support for trans youth in Texas.

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GSC is pushing the game for another seven months of development time

GSC Game World's next foray into the post-apocalypse needs a little more time in development. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl, or STALKER 2, has been delayed out to Dec. 8, 2022.

With seven additional months of time in development from its original April 2022 date, GSC says it plans to use this time to fulfill its vision and achieve the "desired state" of the game. STALKER 2 is the largest project GSC has worked on so far, and the studio says it needs? thorough testing and polishing, and that development should take "as long as necessary."

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Even with STALKER 2 delayed out to the end of the year, GSC Game World says that more information and updates are still ahead. There are, of course, plenty of showcases and opportunities to detail more about STALKER 2 between now and December.

It's a pretty substantial delay, but since delays have become pretty common in the pandemic, it's fairly understandable. GSC Game World has also elected to take a pretty large chunk of time too, so hopefully this means a little more breathing room for the team to really dig in on STALKER 2 and be ready to hit the ground running.

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This is also some extra time to potentially extricate any remaining trace of NFTs from the game. After announcing, then subsequently un-announcing their inclusion in STALKER 2, a little extra time can give GSC some more breathing room between that incident and the actual launch of STALKER 2.

We'll see what the series has in store for us when STALKER 2 is out on Dec. 8, 2022.

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