Summary
- STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the fourth game in the franchise, has been delayed to 2024, disappointing fans who have been waiting for 14 years.
- Despite the delay, the game appears to be nearing completion and is now aiming for a Q1 2024 launch, according to the latest official fact sheet.
- The delay may be for polishing purposes and does not seem to indicate major development troubles, especially since the game was playable at Gamescom 2023.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has been pushed back to 2024, delivering a blow to the Xbox Game Pass holiday season lineup. This turn of events is just the latest chapter in the game's troubled development history, arriving less than a year since GSC Game World reassured fans that STALKER 2 was still aiming for a 2023 release.
Originally announced in 2021, the second numbered installment in the STALKER franchise is actually its fourth game overall. GSC was initially planning to release its next FPS-RPG hybrid in April 2022 before pushing it back by eight months in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which forced it to relocate from Kyiv to Prague. And though that STALKER 2 delay at least promised to strengthen the Xbox Game Pass holiday 2022 lineup, the game also ended up missing its December 8 release date, having been postponed to 2023.
STALKER 2 has now slipped into 2024, according to the latest version of its official fact sheet. While this development might dishearten some fans who spent the last 14 years waiting for another entry in the franchise, the project does seem to be nearing completion, as its latest postponement appears to be fairly minor. Namely, STALKER 2 is now targeting a Q1 2024 launch, the game's newest fact sheet reads. GSC continues to offer digital pre-orders for the first-person RPG via Steam and GOG, while advanced orders for physical copies can still be placed via the game's official website.
The Ukrainian studio did not attach a concrete release date to STALKER 2 following the game's previous delay. However, several recent retailer listings suggested that the studio was looking to debut its next title on December 1, 2023. Assuming that date wasn't just a placeholder, this latest postponement plausibly happened for polishing purposes and isn't indicative of any major development troubles. Another reason to believe that STALKER 2 is finally on the horizon is that GSC brought a playable version of the game to Gamescom 2023, which is taking place in Cologne, Germany.
While this delay certainly puts a dent in the Xbox Game Pass holiday lineup for 2023, Microsoft's subscription service shouldn't be lacking in great releases in the final months of the year. On the contrary, multiple heavy hitters like Starfield and Forza Motorsport are scheduled for day one releases on Xbox Game Pass in the coming weeks.
That notwithstanding, STALKER 2 isn't the only day one Xbox Game Pass title that was recently hit with a delay. The same fate has previously befallen indie cyberpunk platformer Replaced, which slipped into 2024 earlier this week.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl launches Q1 2024 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.