Stalker 2 looks to finally deliver on the promise of its predecessor (UPDATE).

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A whole slew of new info on Stalker 2 makes it clear: The excursion into the zone will be harder and significantly more extensive than ever before!

Next year, Stalker 2 wants to make you shine. So, after that guaranteed never-before-read word joke, we get more specific: A whole slew of new info makes it clear that developer GSC Game World has lost none of its penchant for ambitious plans. The only question is: Will they get it all done this time?

Especially in the survival aspect, Stalker 2 is supposed to be much tougher than its predecessor. But also in terms of scope, they are not satisfied with small scales and promise significantly more playing time than in the predecessors, if you really want to explore every corner of the game world and complete all the activities.

Everything you should know about Stalker 2

Release: When will Stalker 2 be released?

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is scheduled for release in December 2023. Since its announcement, the shooter has already been delayed several times. An exact date is not known due to the difficult-to-predict development of the Ukraine war.

gamescom: Can I play before release?

Yes, and at this year’s gamescom. The official Twitter account of Stalker 2 confirmed that a demo of the shooter can be played at the gamescom in Cologne from 23 to 27 August.

Price: How much does Stalker 2 cost?

Stalker 2 will be released for 60 Euros. In addition to the standard edition, there are numerous other versions and editions, which we list for you here:

  • Standard Edition: 60 Euro (digital and physical)
  • Deluxe Edition: 80 Euro (digital)
  • Ulitmate Edition: 110 Euro (digital)
  • Limited Edition: 80 Euro (physical)
  • Collectors Edition: 180 Euro (physical)
  • Ultimate Edition: 380 Euro (physical)

Furthermore, Stalker 2 will be included in the Xbox Game Pass at release.

Platforms: On what will Stalker 2 be released?

Stalker 2 will be available at release for the PC as well as Xbox Series X and S. Other platforms are to follow later: Heart of Chornobyl will thus also be released for Playstation 5 at a later date and is not Xbox-exclusive.

System requirements: What does your computer need to be able to do?

GSC Game World has announced the minimum and recommended hardware requirements for Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. With the help of our overview you can check directly if your system is ready for the release:

Minimum system requirements

  • Operating system: Windows 10
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600X / Intel Core i5-7600K
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
  • Memory: 150GB available storage (SSD)

Recommended System Requirements

  • Operating system: Windows 10
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X / Intel Core i7-9700K
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB
  • Memory: 150GB available storage (SSD)

Multiplayer: Does Stalker 2 have multiplayer?

Stalker 2 is to receive a multiplayer mode after release. The multiplayer is to be delivered as a free update. It is not yet known exactly what the multiplayer will contain and how extensive it will be. However, it is conceivable that, as in the predecessors, at least a deathmatch mode will be offered.

Story: What is Stalker 2 about?

  • Framework: In Stalker 2 we are once again transported to the contaminated exclusion zone around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. There, the laws of nature are partially suspended and the animal kingdom is severely mutated by radioactivity. The titular stalkers search for artefacts there.
  • Decisions: Stalker 2 is intended to offer a self-contained and non-linear story that is influenced by player decisions and can lead to multiple endings.
  • Protagonist: We take on the role of the new protagonist Skif, whose actions, according to the developer, “are meant to usher in a new chapter in the Zone’s history”.
  • Factions: In addition, two old familiar groups are likely to play a role in the story. The Guardians see the Zone as a danger to humanity and want to destroy it. The Monolither are a fanatical cult that is hostile to almost all other stalkers.
  • Mutants: The first trailer also provides clues to gruesome experiments with mutants that appear to have been bred inside an old reactor.
  • Recurring characters: Two characters were also seen in the trailer. One of them is reminiscent of Doctor from Shadow of Chernobyl, another could be the merchant Sidorovich we meet in the first Stalker.

If the stalker has nothing in his belly, he will soon be in the bush

Where did the info come from? The new information on Stalker 2 comes from the January 2022 issue of (Magazine PC Gamer), who spoke to GSC Game World. So these are not rumours, but official channels.

Survival elements in gameplay focus: What was once already planned for the first Stalker game, but was discarded until the release in 2007, is now finally to become reality in Stalker 2. Hard-hitting survival elements force you not to be able to roam the zone non-stop without paying attention to how you feel.

Hunger: You must regularly fill your belly with delicious jerky, exquisite tinned food and other foodstuffs so that you don’t go hungry. If you don’t, your stamina will dwindle and you won’t be able to perform many actions. If you wait too long to eat, your stalker will bite the dust. Nice detail: If you delay your meal too long, your stomach will regularly let you know with a loud growl.
Sleep: Rest periods also play an important role in Stalker 2. You can only maintain maximum performance if you are well rested. This is said to go so far that the optical and acoustic perception of your environment changes when you are overtired. Hallucinations, however, do not occur after moderate overtiredness, but only after you have delayed sleep for a really long time.))

As in real life, you can still take short-term measures against hunger and fatigue – such as a small snack or a can of energy drink. This should prevent you from suddenly having to turn back in the middle of a mission because your tummy is rumbling or your eyelids are getting heavy.

By the way, four brand-new screenshots were published as part of the PC Gamer preview, which show that Stalker 2 could be a new graphic highlight. You can view the new images in all their glory in our gallery:

Over 100 hours of content planned
There is also solid news in terms of scope: According to the developers, 30 quest designers are working on filling the world with enough content. The bottom line is that you should need over 100 hours to complete all the activities in the zone.

However, it is still unclear what exactly is meant by these activities. Besides main quests, most likely side quests and local events that trigger as soon as you are in the vicinity. Whether GSC Game World has come up with another kind of zone entertainment remains to be seen.

Another detail about which new information has been elicited is one of the factions that we will inevitably have to deal with in the course of the story. This faction sees itself as a kind of police force for the zone and is therefore not particularly well disposed towards us and other stalkers. The leader of these zone vigilantes has mainly hired highly qualified mercenaries and other ex-military personnel in order to have the necessary manpower.

The faction’s goal: to eliminate all the dangers of the Zone in order to help all of humanity through the potential of science. Of course, there are still all kinds of anomalies and other artefacts to be found in the Zone, which they want to examine in the scientific institute.

The Zone is alive

In the first Stalker, a system called AI Life in the background ensured that the game world was dynamically populated by other stalkers, animals and nasty mutants. In the sequel, AI Life 2.0 is now used, which basically has the same tasks, but of course is supposed to do them even better.

So you have to make sure at all times that no other stalkers shoot you in the back while searching for artefacts or that a mutated animal sees a tasty lunch in you. It is not known how many mutants are to be found in Stalker 2. In the trailers shown so far, however, we have already been able to spot some old acquaintances, such as the Bloodsucker, who sneaks up on you invisibly.