On Tuesday evening Microsoft hosted an extended showcase had its nearly two hour event on Sunday not been enough time to showcase what’s coming to Xbox and PC.
One of the highlights from this extended showcase was a new trailer and release window for GSC Game World’s Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The trailer can be viewed below.
As you can see at the end of the trailer, the new release window for Stalker 2 is 2023. While this was sort of leaked during Sunday’s show, this is concrete confirmation that Stalker 2’s release has been delayed.
The reason for the delay is quite simply due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In a dev diary for development of the game it’s just how dire the situation in the Ukraine is. Some GSC developers were able to leave conflict zones but many others weren’t and the dev diary puts this into sharp relief.
While the video (embedded below) starts off light-hearted, it takes a harsh turn following the Russian invasion. One moment that will stick with us for a while is a dev running down stairs to get to a bomb shelter as armaments are dropped nearby.
“War changes everything: desires, expectations, the pace of life and mindset, and even what’s waking you up in the morning. Splits the life into ‘before’ and ‘after’. It makes you get used to a new reality without true safety, even at home. Some Ukrainians are forced to leave their homeland. Others have devoted themselves to volunteering or defending the country with arms,” GSC Game World wrote.
“GSC Game World is a Ukrainian company, so our story is alike. Everyone is in their place and helps Ukraine to win. And at the same time, we are working hard on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, which development became even more momentous and symbolic. Although, it was impossible to imagine that it could be ‘even more’ before. It’s been 111 days since war broke into the home of every Ukrainian. It’s still here, reaping the harvest of crime and grief. And still, we are fighting back with the belief of victory,” the developer added.
The fact that despite a literal war happening in the streets, GSC Game World appears committed to making Stalker 2 its best game yet.
We’ve always been excited for this game and seeing the commitment and passion from the developers is inspiring to see. We wish GSC Game World the best of luck in continued development of Stalker 2.
