• Developer GSC Game World has announced that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, will be delayed again.
• The first game in the series since 2009 will now release on 20th November.
• The development of this long awaited title was marred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, forcing the developer to delay the release.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster has become fodder for all manner of media from documentaries, YouTube videos, movies, series and games. One of the best games to portray this disaster was GSC Game World’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R series.

In this series, a second disaster befell Chernobyl and sent the region spiralling with deadly entities spawning throughout the region.

For years, fans of this series have been waiting for a sequel and unfortunately, we’re all going to have to wait a bit longer.

The developer has said that it is shifting the release date for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl from 5th September to 20th November 2024. At least the release date is still this year.

“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,” said Yevhen Grygorovych, Game Director at GSC Game World.

To make up for this delay, the developer released a 35 minute deep dive into the game featuring interviews, new footage, a world overview and even a walkthrough of one of the story quests.

We recommend turning Closed Captions on for the video below.

This should help tide over fans who have been waiting for the game since it was first announced 2012. Granted, that development was scrapped but it was picked up again in 2018. Sadly, in 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine forcing GSC Game World to hit pause on development.

That extra time in the oven looks to have been worth it. The visuals are jaw-dropping, especially the shots of the Russian Woodpecker.

The first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game since 2009 promises to be an intense first-person shooter with sim mechanics and horror, set in one of the most fascinating parts of the world. Granted, the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is fictious but we’re excited to explore Chernobyl and the ghost town of Pripyat.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl will release on PC and Xbox and pre-orders are currently available.