Everything we know about Stalker 2, including how the War in Ukraine has affected development
What is the situation with Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl?The much-awaited survival horror FPS from Ukrainian developers GSC Game World has been in development for over a decade now, but its release is seemingly drawing ever-nearer. It’s the first new game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series since 2009’s Call Of Pripyat, and its rich dark atmosphere and sumptuous trailers have got a lot of people very excited to dive back into the mutated and deadly Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.
If you need a catch-up sesh on everything to expect whenStalker 2: Heart Of Chornobylcomes out, we’re here to help. Below we’ll walk you through just about everything you could ever want to know aboutStalker 2, from its expected release date, platforms, and pre-order details, to information on story, gameplay, multiplayer, and more. We’ll also explore how the game’s development has been affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and how the devs are getting on now.
Stalker 2 expected release date
Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl will be available on PC and Xbox Series X|S. On PC, Stalker 2 will be purchasable on Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, Xbox Store, and GOG. As for Playstation owners, the latest news was that Stalker 2 would be an Xbox exclusive for three months - which means we could potentially see a PS5 release after this time.
The game won’t run on last-generation consoles, according to GSC Game World’s PR manager Zakhar Bocharov. This means Stalker 2 will not be coming to either PS4 or Xbox One.
Stalker 2 will launch day one on Xbox Game Pass, so everyone subscribed to Game Pass will be able to play Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl for free. Or at least, without spending money specifically on the game.
If you pre-order any of these editions, you’ll also receive the following:
Above is the latest Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl trailer released by GSC Game World. This trailer focuses largely on the story and impressive cutscene-free interactions with the various NPCs you’ll meet throughout the game. But there are also some very creepy-looking mutants too.
In total, 4 trailers have been released by GSC Game World - plus one very creepy and impressive teaser - and you can watch them all from theirYouTube channel.
In March, development on Stalker 2 was"shifted to the sidelines"according to a video entitled"Lights! Camera! War…“which was published on GSC’s YouTube channel. “But we will definitely continue”, the developers added at the end of the video.
The latest update from GSC came in the form of this June video on"Game Development During the War”, which speaks about the widespread difficulties of continuing development while bombs are dropping less than a mile away from the office.
Like previous Stalker games, in Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl you play the role of a Stalker, a traveler who has come to the deadly Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (known simply as the Zone) for reasons which range from personal gain to more collectivist motives.
In this alternate reality, a second Chornobyl disaster took place in 2006, 20 years after the first disaster. This second disaster was brought about by scientists attempting to tap into the “Noosphere” - in reality an abstract concept regarding the collective consciousness and thought of all of Earth’s inhabitants, but in the world of Stalker, a tangible thing that could be studied and altered. The scientists reasoned that manipulating the Noosphere could remove negative human traits such as anger and greed worldwide - but the experimenting backfired in predictable and horrific fashion, causing a second Chornobyl disaster which prompted widespread mutation and strange meteorological phenomena to appear throughout the Zone.
As a result, there are three main obstacles in the path of any Stalker - mutants, dangerous meteorological anomalies, and other humans. In the previous games there were several (oft-warring) human factions exploring the Zone: from lawless Bandits seeking refuge where the law won’t chase them; to military organisations such as the Duty, who seek to keep the dangers of the Zone from spreading; or Freedom, a clan of Stalkers who believe in sharing all the information and knowledge hidden inside the Zone with the outside world.
Not much is known specifically about the story of Stalker 2, except that the Zone is once again calling for Stalkers to plumb its depths and explore its mysteries. The protagonist’s name is Skif, and he is, as you might imagine, a Stalker. The game’s website states that the story is non-linear, like the previous Stalker games, and that “Your Duty is to decide the fate of the Zone.”
Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl is a survival horror first-person shooter. There has always been an emphasis on realism in the Stalker series when it comes to survival systems, weapon modifications, and more - and from what we’ve seen so far in the trailers, the same is true of GSC Game World’s latest title. Players must eat, sleep, tend to wounds, combat radiation effects, and more in order to stay alive.
According to the game’s Steam Store page there are over 30 different types of weapons and various attachments which allow for hundreds of combinations. At one point in the gameplay trailer at the top of this page, we see the player grab attachments (a scope and a silencer) from atop some boxes nearby, and immediately attach them to his rifle without having to open up an inventory or crafting screen, giving players a far more diegetic weapon customisation experience than most other shooters.
The 64km² Stalker 2 map is seamlessly open-world, unlike previous Stalker games where you had to use specific access points to travel between various regions of the map. There is a day-night cycle and dynamic weather system in place, too.
Another big aspect of the Stalker games has always been what the devs called A-Life - an ambitious (and incredibly impressive for its time) system which simulated the daily cycles and actions of every NPC in the world at once, and makes it seem as though NPCs are always moving around and getting on with their lives, rather than staying in one spot waiting for the player to interact with them. In Stalker 2 this system has been upgraded to become A-Life 2.0. The player may encouter spontaneous fights between factions, NPCs which move around with purpose and interact with each other in emergent ways, and so on.
According to the Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl FAQ page, players will need “more than 100 hours of gameplay to explore its secrets”. This likely means 100%‘ing the game, and if you wanted to simply complete the main story and reach one of its several endings, then it would take a significantly shorter amount of time. Still, 100 hours is an impressive benchmark, and speaks to the scale of Stalker 2.
Multiplayer won’t be available on release to Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl, but the Steam Store page states that there will be a multiplayer mode “added soon after release as a free update”. What form this multiplayer mode will take, we don’t yet know.
It is not necessary to play the previous games before starting Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl - but it is encouraged. Here is the exact wording from the developers:
The original games (Shadow Of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call Of Pripyat) are beloved by many, and still hold up decently well today considering their 2007-2009 release dates, so if you truly want to immerse yourself in the upcoming world of Stalker 2, then we’d recommend at least trying out the earlier games.
GSC Game World have already released details of the system requirements needed to run Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl, and they’re not insignificant. This is a big, beefy game, and it’ll require a big, beefy machine to run well. According to the devs, you will need a whopping150 GB of spaceon your PC or Xbox in order to install it.
Below are the full Stalker 2 system requirements.
That brings us to the end of our noosphere of knowledge surrounding the upcoming Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl. If you want to stay up to date with all the latest details around Stalker 2 and its developers’ journey, then bookmark this page and keep checking back every so often.
