Developer GSC Game World offered an update on STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl during Microsoft’s Xbox Extended Games Showcase on Tuesday, confirming that the horror-simulation FPS is now expected sometime in 2023. STALKER 2 was previously slated for release in December 2022, but the ongoing war in Ukraine has impacted the game’s development.
As noted in a new development diary from GSC Game World, some of the studio’s employees have decided to take up arms and defend their country, while a portion of STALKER 2’s development continues in Kyiv. Others are working at a recently established office in Prague, “where much of the game’s development will take place.”
That dev diary shows the destruction of Kyiv near GSC Game World’s offices, developers who are forced to work in cramped and potentially dangerous conditions, and those who are fighting Russian forces as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
GSC Game World also released a new trailer for STALKER 2 that showcases the in-game intro to its next game.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is heading to Windows PC and Xbox Series X, and will be included as part of Game Pass.