After suffering multiple delays, the anticipated first-person shooter STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl finally has a new release window of Q1 2024 or early 2024. Developer GSC Game World also stated that the game is now in the final stage of development and nearing completion.
GSC Game World recently released a new trailer called “Strider Trailer” which had a release window of Q1 2024 attached to the end. While a concrete release date was not mentioned, it’s possible that the game will get one at The Game Awards which airs on 7 December as part of Xbox’s teased ‘important announcements’ for the show.
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During the PC Gaming Show, GSC Game World CEO Yevhen Grygorovych confirmed that STALKER 2 was in the final stage of development. “This game stands as the biggest and most complex game in our lives. It was ambitious from the beginning but evolved into an ultimate challenge,” said Grygorovych. “It holds extreme significance and a deeply personal connection for us, crafted amidst the most stressful conditions imaginable.”
The development of STALKER 2 is quite an interesting one. Originally resurfacing in 2019, the game was first pinned to release in April 2022 before being moved up to December that year. It was struck with another delay into 2023 due to GSC Game World having to relocate to the Czech Republic after the Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced. It was finally delayed one more time back in August to 2024.
Speaking at Xbox’s Gamescom booth earlier this year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer had kind words to say about the development team and assured fans that the game was still on track:
“One that’s close to my heart is [the] Stalker 2 team, and all that they’ve been dealing with. They have a playable game on the floor, which is just fantastic. I got to play yesterday. The game looks great, and they’re literally downloading a build as I’m sitting there, trying to put the last touches on their game. But what an amazing story.”
In other news, Xbox recently stated that it still has plans to try and launch Game Pass on other platforms such as Nintendo and PlayStation. It’s unlikely that PlayStation will agree to it since its own subscription service, PlayStation Plus, already offers a large library of games almost equivalent to Game Pass.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl launches in Q1 2024 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Check out the new trailer below:
Source: PC Gaming Show
