Stalker 2 release delayed to December 2022

Originally planned to be released on 28th April 2022, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl now has a new release date - 8th December 2022.

GSC Game World, the developers behind this long-awaited sequel to the cult horror shooter RPG series, announced today (12th January) that we will have to wait for a few more months before getting a chance to play Stalker 2, as the game's release has been postponed for 7 months.

Stalker 2 gets a new release date

The new release date for Stalker 2 is now 8th December 2022.

"These additional seven months of development are needed to fulfil our vision and achieve the desired state of the game," GSC Game World said in a statement. "Stalker 2 is the biggest project in the history of GSC, and it requires thorough testing and polishing. We are convinced that development should take as long as necessary, especially in the case of such a project."

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— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) January 12, 2022

The studio further explains that they believe a project of such scope as Stalker 2 "should take as long as necessary" and that the decision to postpone the game wasn't made lightly, but ultimately they want to do everything they can in order for Stalker 2 to be a game "that can live up to the expectations."

This is definitely a significant delay, as developers are adding more than seven months of additional development time, which might be connected with the recent NFT fiasco. GSC Game World initially planned to add NFTs to Stalker 2, but backed away from that idea just a day after the announcement, following severe backlash among fans, who almost universally criticised this idea.

Given that NFTs were probably already incorporated into the game, they might need some time to make appropriate changes and remove NFT mechanics from the game.
Nonetheless, the length of the delay indicates that there are definitely some other aspects of the game which require additional work and probably a lot of bugs to be squashed.

The original Stalker games were the epitome of so-called "euro junk" games - beloved for their gritty atmosphere, unconventional stories and gameplay mechanics, but also very much a buggy mess with clunky controls, poor optimisation, and other flaws. So, even if Stalker 2 eventually releases in a buggy state, for many fans that might even be a desired trait, as it is all a part of the authentic euro junk experience.

• Read more: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart Of Chernobyl - Release date, gameplay, game pass, story, more

Of course, as long as the game itself is fun to play. We don't yet actually know much about the game itself, but developers have promised to showcase more later this year.

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Featured image courtesy of GSC Game World