Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl, the long-awaited new addition to GSC Recreation World’s cult shooter sequence, has been delayed. The studio stated at present that as a substitute of arriving in April as deliberate, the sport is now slated to launch on December 8.
“These further seven months of improvement are wanted to satisfy our imaginative and prescient and obtain the specified state of the sport,” GSC Recreation World stated in an announcement. “Stalker 2 is the largest undertaking within the historical past of GSC, and it requires thorough testing and sprucing. We’re satisfied that improvement ought to take so long as needed, particularly within the case of such a undertaking.”
The schedule is also impacted by the choice late final 12 months to incorporate NFTs into the sport. The backlash from gamers was so intense that the studio scrapped the plan the next day, and whereas there isn’t any point out of it within the delay announcement, that type of last-minute turnaround is certain to trigger a point of chaos. The size of the delay—greater than half a 12 months—additionally means that Stalker 2 wants greater than just a bit tweaking and tuning.
Regardless of the motive, I do not thoughts ready. The unique Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl was notoriously janky, and whereas that is completely a part of the expertise—I even stated so on this rundown of our favorite janky games—to be sincere, I will be glad if Stalker 2 is somewhat little bit of a smoother and extra steady expertise.
Regardless of the proximity of the unique launch date, we have not really seen a lot of Stalker 2 but past the system requirements and a few temporary, extremely curated gameplay movies. That can hopefully begin to change quickly: GSC Recreation World promised that “extra info, updates, and showcases” could be coming all through this 12 months.
