Stalker 2 has suffered yet another delay, this time to November 20, 2024.
In January, after years of development and multiple delays, Ukrainian developer GSC Game World announced a firm, “final” release date of September 5, 2024, which it will no longer hit.
In a statement, game director Yevhen Grygorovych said the extra two months will give the developers the chance to fix “unexpected anomalies”, aka bugs.
Here’s the statement in full:
“We know you might be tired of waiting, and we truly appreciate your patience. These two additional months will give us the chance to fix more ‘unexpected anomalies’ (or simply ‘bugs’, as you call them). We are always grateful for your ongoing support and understanding - it means the world to us. We’re just as eager as you are to finally release the game and for you to experience it for yourself.”
GSC Game World has been vocal about the challenges the studio has faced getting the post-apocalyptic PC and Xbox Series X and S shooter up to scratch after a mixed reaction to its debut public showing last year.
At gamescom 2023, GSC Game World addressed what some had called a “downgrade” sparked by Stalker 2’s latest gameplay trailer. At the time, GSC Game World told IGN it was still targeting a visual quality and level of polish suggested by Stalker 2’s eye-catching 2021 trailer (below). This despite the horrendous conditions suffered by the staff amid the war with Russia.
It’s fair to say the gamescom 2023 build was rough. As IGN’s Stalker 2 hands-on preview revealed: “Despite its Unreal Engine 5 base and prominent Microsoft support, the 15-minute gamescom demo suggests that Stalker 2 still sits in the ‘eurojank’ category; the colloquial term for eastern European games that are overly ambitious and technically wobbly.
“This sequel’s animations are stiff, its human faces look like haunted waxworks, the AI struggles to stay smart, and inventory management is fiddly. But in exchange for that you get a Soviet bloc world that feels authentic and layered with opportunity. This demo may have been short, but its small areas featured numerous angles for stealth or action approaches, fun flanking routes, and a variety of side objectives.”
GSC Game World said it will premiere a Stalker 2 developer deep dive in collaboration with Xbox on August 12, 2024. This, the developer said, will show lots of new footage, including world overview, various locations, gameplay, and cutscenes. Fans will get to see a full video walkthrough of one of the story quests.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
