Hectic preparation
A game that has history even before its release.
A nuclear zone, radioactive creatures, and a developer who was on the front lines. STALKER 2 already has a date before the game's release. But a first-person survival horror game is finally coming.
It's January 16, 2024, and GSC Game World, the publisher of STALKER 2, has released a new trailer for the game. The game's release date was finally announced in a short video, which is September 5 this year. With another six months to wait, there's a lot to look forward to, but we're certainly also thinking about the turbulent history of a publisher that continues to be literally under fire.
What is Stalker 2 about?
STALKER 2 is the fourth installment of the Stalker series and is a first-person survival horror game. The series takes place in an alternative Chernobyl zone where experiments were conducted after the 1986 disaster, which eventually led to a second disaster. This is how “The Zone” was created, a quarantine zone where all life has mutated. These mutations are not only dangerous, but also provide unique resources that can be collected. People crazy enough to explore the area are called stalkers.
STALKER 2 will have the same story as its predecessors. You are part of a Ukrainian team searching for the center of the region and in the meantime have to face the necessary challenges. So there are a lot of mysteries that you can discover in the game, and the developer keeps these mysteries secret. Little is known about the plot and the location of STALKER 2 has a mysterious story. More and more will be known about the game in the coming period as its release date has finally been announced. However, this history did not come without some struggle.
An eventful release
The last STALKER game, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, dates back to 2009. However, STALKER 2 was announced in 2010 for 2012. However, it was canceled very quickly by developer GSC Game World. It was quiet for a long time and in 2018 came the first indications that the game was still in development using Unreal Engine 4. It took until 2020 before more became known. Initially, the game was scheduled to be released in 2021 and that was later changed to April 28, 2022. But then, of course, a catastrophic event occurred.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. This made the Ukrainian company GSC Game World a priority elsewhere. This can also be seen in the promotional ads on their YouTube page, which were entirely dedicated to expressing support for Ukraine. In 2023, the company moved its location to the Czech Republic, where it continued to develop the game. Now, 14 years after the initial announcement, it's finally time for the game to be released.
Why are we looking forward to it?
GSC Game World had to move quite a few mountains to finally release STALKER 2. The game is now being developed using Unreal Engine 5 and will only be playable on next-gen consoles. This will ensure that the environment looks nicer and softer. This can already be seen in the trailer from a few years ago.
But why should you look forward to STALKER 2? The entire release date blows my mind about the playability of the game. Additionally, Chernobyl has something mysterious that was eventually incorporated into the STALKER franchise. Finally, this game can go in any direction. Numerous in-game delays can indicate that the game is full of bugs, reminiscent of the Cyberpunk version. Or it could be a goal that will be talked about for years to come. Let me put it this way, after all their suffering, I wish GSC Game World a pleasant experience.
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