Everything we know about Stalker 2, including how the War in Ukraine has affected development
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Сердце Чернобыля — Официальный геймплейный трейлерWatch on YouTube
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Сердце Чернобыля — Официальный геймплейный трейлер
Stalker 2 expected release date
Previously Stalker 2 was expected to release on April 28 2022, but a delay moved this date down to December 7 2022. Since then, the War in Ukraine forced the Kyiv-based developers to relocate to Prague (more on this below), and as a result the game was delayed once more to its current tentative December 2023 release window.
Stalker 2 platforms
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 Game Pass
Stalker 2 pre-order and editions
If you pre-order any of these editions, you’ll also receive the following:
Stalker 2 trailer
Stalker 2 Ukraine situation
Stalker 2’s developers, GSC Game World, are based in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022 led to a huge shift in focus for the developers, who quickly issued astrong statementagainst the invaders:
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.
Shortly after the video was released,VGC reportedthat a portion of the dev team had relocated from Kyiv to Prague, capital of Czechia, to continue work on Stalker 2 away from the endless bombardments and other horrors of the invasion. The game’s release was understandably pushed from December 2022 to December 2023, with no firm release date in place.
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.
Stalker 2 story and setting
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 gameplay
Image credit:GSC Game World
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.
Image credit:GSC Game World
How big is Stalker 2?
Is Stalker 2 multiplayer?
Stalker 2 engine
Do you need to play the entire Stalker series before Stalker 2?
Stalker 2 size and system requirements
Below are the full Stalker 2 system requirements.
