STALKER 2 Gamescom Q&A – GSC Game World Talks About the Final Rush to Launch

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STALKER 2 is real, and it's promising. I can confirm as much after having had the chance to try a brief demo of Episode 1 during Gamescom 2024. This sequel has had to go through an untold number of hurdles, starting with the cancellation of the original project (announced in 2010) and the disbandment of Ukrainian developer GSC Game World.

Thankfully, after a few years, the studio was reformed. After making the real-time strategy game Cossacks 3, the team went on to make STALKER 2 at long last. However, the troubles were far from over, starting with the Russian invasion of Ukraine that forced them to stop development for a while and relocate to Prague, and there was even an office fire at some point.

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The game is now basically complete, however, and it also looked fairly polished from what little I played. Granted, it would be impossible to even attempt to judge a game this big after a half-hour session where players were also left to understand the mechanics on their own. Still, the Unreal Engine 5-powered visuals certainly look great, and the atmosphere is top-notch.

After the hands-on, I chatted with Lead Producer Slava Lukyanenka and PR Specialist Zakhar Bocharov to discuss the game's short road to release. As a reminder, STALKER 2 will launch on PC and Xbox Series S|X on November 20, and it will be available on Game Pass from day one.

First of all, I wanted to ask how the team is doing. It would be a big understatement to say you've been through a lot. Now that you are so close to the finish line, what does it feel like?

Slava Lukyanenka: I would say there's all kinds of anxiety and excitement. We are preparing both versions of the game, including a build for Microsoft, because we need to pass through the certification for the Xbox version, and we need to do it in advance. Starting yesterday, we also started to receive public opinions from Gamescom, and it was pure anxiety.

Currently, it's slightly