STALKER 2 May be Delayed Again; Developers Clarify Game Length

The developers of the upcoming STALKER 2 have shared a handful of new details about the game. Among other things, we learned the approximate length of the main storyline and the number of endings.

Source: GSC Game World

If you are eagerly awaiting the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, then you are certainly interested in all the details that concern the game from the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World. Two developers, Yevgeny Grigorovich and Mariya Grigorovich, recently took part in an interview with gamersky.com, in which they shared some interesting information.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 - new details

One of the most important news is the one about the length of the game - to complete the main plot thread of the second STALKER we are expected to need about forty hours. That's a lot for a modern single-player game, as it takes, on average, twenty hours to get through such titles. Admittedly, a few years ago one of the developers of Heart of Chornobyl claimed that it would be possible to spend hundreds of hours in the game - given the new details, one can assume that this is how long it will take to potentially "max out" STALKER 2.

Below we have listed the other interesting information about GSC Game World's work, as mentioned on gamersky.com.

The game will have four main endings. Side quests can also lead to different conclusions, and some of such missions will affect the main story.
A perfect shot to the enemy's head will lead to his immediate death. In addition, the player will be able to use environmental elements in combat, such as oil barrels, and kill enemies silently with a knife.
STALKER 2 on Xbox Series X will offer two modes: quality and performance. The developers want the game to reach 60 frames per second in the second one.
The system requirements of the PC version are likely to change yet as the game is currently in beta, and the developers are still working on optimization.

When is the release?

The developers' reference to the release of STALKER 2 might worry. This is because they stated that refining the game "will still take some time". No specific release date was provided, and instead the developers admitted that:

"(...) due to the sheer size and complexity of the open world [of STALKER 2 - editor's note] there are thousands of details that may not go according to plan (...), it is difficult to say how far we are from actually completing the game."

Fans of the new STALKER must still be patient. The game's debut has already been postponed several times and currently the release is officially scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. However, the above declaration suggests that we should be ready for further delays.

Despite the difficult conditions - let's mention, for example, the hacking attacks or the recent fire at the GSC Game World branch - the developers are working hard on the game and want to provide players with the most polished product possible (or at least that's what they declare).

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is scheduled to be released on Xbox Series X/S consoles and PCs.