GSC Game World, the studio creating STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, has shared an eagerly awaited update on the first-person survival horror game, now aiming for a release in Q1 2024.
This installment marks the series’ return after a 15-year hiatus, but the development journey has been challenging. The STALKER 2 team relocated from Ukraine to the Czech Republic due to the conflict with Russia, impacting the game’s progress significantly.
During this time, the game faced a two-month pause, with team members departing to support Ukraine, tragically resulting in the loss of one STALKER 2 developer. Additionally, in March 2023, Russian hackers breached the game’s development, leaking unfinished content and threatening further releases. GSC Game World fought against these breaches for 16 months, highlighting that certain unreleased materials had been stolen.
Understandably, the game, initially planned for 2022, faced delays, leaving fans with limited updates on its status. However, the recent announcement of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl winning PC Gamer’s Most Wanted PC Game award brought renewed hope. In a video acceptance speech, GSC Game World’s CEO, Yevhen Grygorovych, mentioned the game being in its final development stages. Accompanying this, a new trailer revealed the game’s slated release on consoles and PC in Q1 2024.
The trailer also hinted at STALKER 2’s availability on Xbox Game Pass upon launch, with a temporary exclusivity period under Microsoft. Leaked documents from 2021 suggested this exclusivity will last for three months before the game becomes available on Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG. While a PlayStation release remains uncertain, changes in plans might have occurred since the leaks.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s journey has indeed been a long one. Initially planned for a 2012 release after Call of Pripyat, its development faced cancellations and revivals until GSC Game World confirmed its re-development in 2018. Despite the challenges, intermittent glimpses through screenshots and trailers have kept fans eagerly anticipating this survival horror title, worthy of its Most Wanted PC Game recognition.