It’s been a long, tumultuous development cycle for GSC Game World’sSTALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, but it appears to be worth it.
Just three days after the game’s long-awaited release, it was announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) thatSTALKER 2has sold over one million copies. “This is just the start of our unforgettable adventure,” the post states. “The Heart of Chornobyl emanates stronger with each of us.”
The Future of STALKER 2 Looks Bright
Despite performance issues,STALKER 2is an absolute blast to playand filled with limitless potential.Modders are already hard at workto improve the game’s performance and gameplay, but GSC acknowledges they have work to do.
On release day, they noted that “there may still be rough edges.” GSC admits that this is the biggest game they have ever released. As they monitor player feedback, GSC promises to continue updating the game with hotfixes. GSC also promises long-term support for game improvements and free in-game content. A complete roadmap will be made available in December.
Stalker 2 On Controller Doesn’t Play Right
Stalker 2 doesn’t like your controller very much, but GSC Game World has promised to fix things.
According toSteamDB, the game has just under 100,000 concurrent players at the time of writing. Its all-time peak is 118,000. Don’t be surprised to see that number rise as we head into the weekend. Those numbers also don’t account for the game’s player count in the Xbox ecosystem, as the game was made available onGame Pass UltimateandPC Game Passon November 20th.
Announced in 2010, one year after the release of 2009’sSTALKER, developer GSC Game World saw layoffs that shrunk their staff by as much as 75%. The game would go on hold as the developer focused on other projects until 2021 when a gameplay trailer was revealed during the Microsoft/Bethesda E3 showcase.
It was then that an April 28th, 2022 release date was revealed, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine posed several issues to development, as GSC is based in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. Due to the war, the studio moved development to Prague, Czech Republic. The game’s subtitle,Heart of Chornobyl, was even changed from its original spelling,Heart of Chernobyl, to reflect the Native Ukrainian spelling instead of the original Russian spelling.
Given the rough nature ofSTALKER 2’s development, some of these rough edges can be forgiven. Having to escape not just your home studio but also your actual home due to war is incredibly rough. Still, the team at GSC has persisted and delivered a game resonating with fans.
STALKER 2: 15 Best Beginner’s Tips
tips that can help both rookies coming from the Lesser Zone and veterans pouring in from the Cordon.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
WHERE TO PLAY
