We won’t be playing Stalker 2 for now, but instead, we’ll play the waiting game for a little while…
Just after Stalker 2’s presentation and playable demo at Gamescom 2023, Ukrainian developer GSC Game World has recently published a fact sheet PDF, with quite a lot of information about their upcoming survival FPS game. As noted in the PDF, the official release date (well more of an approximate date) is set to Q1 2024, meaning anywhere from January 1 to March 31 next year, 2024.
“S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl releases on PC and Xbox Series X/S in
Q1 2024. The game will be available on Game Pass day one, and preorders are opened on our website, as well as on Steam and GOG.”
Other valuable information mentioned in the fact sheet PDF is that the game will have a dynamic branching “cinematic story”, where your decisions will most likely affect the end story like we’ve been used to in the original trilogy series. As a genre (or multi-genre, really), Stalker 2 will be an FPS sim-horror with survival elements. There will be more than 30 customizable weapons spread through the zone for you to find, all rendered in the incredible Unreal Engine 5.
- “Play a major part in a branching cinematic story that unfolds in the
setting of a local post-apocalyptic dark science fiction landscape. - Experience one-of-a-kind gameplay, featuring the elements of a first-person shooter, immersive sim, and horror.
- Survival mechanics that hinge on searching for crucial and valuable supplies: food, drinks, meds to survive the harsh conditions, (un)natural hazards, and hostile locals.
- Shed light on the dark secrets of these lands, hunt mutants, and explore the mysterious anomalies in search of precious artifacts with game-changing affinities.
- Try to survive in tactical firefights against various enemies and more than 30 firearm models, yours to upgrade and customize.
- Experience benchmark-setting graphics powered by the Unreal Engine 5.”
What does Q1 2024 actually mean?
It’s no secret that the team behind Stalker 2 had a rough year with the conflict in Ukraine. Attacks from Russian hackers, publicly exposing an early alpha version of the game earlier this year did not help the developers either. So what can we expect in terms of an exact release date? After confirming that December 2023 was just a placeholder release date, GSC Game World left us with this elusive Q1 2024 date range, meaning a late March 2023 release if we’re being realistic. There is also the possibility of another delay, which would be quite understandable given the facts. All we can do is patiently wait for an exact release date.
Evgeniy Grygorovych Gamescom interview
For an in-depth look at the situation of Stalker 2’s development process, here’s IGN’s interview with the game director and CEO of GSC Game World, Evgeniy Grygorovych:
