stalker-2-delayed-until-2023

Development on Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl not too long ago resumed, after being paused in February following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Studio GSC Game World was primarily based in Kyiv however has had to assist its workers and their households relocate, throughout which interval it additionally modified the game’s identify: hit’s now Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, reflecting the Ukrainian spelling of the area.

The game was nonetheless scheduled for a December launch although, given the circumstances, this appeared more and more optimistic. At the Xbox and Bethesda showcase final night time, a slide close to the tip of the presentation itemizing video games popping out over the subsequent 12 months confirmed Stalker 2 as now being down for a 2023 launch.

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I contacted GSC Game World and requested if the slide was correct. “It happened a little bit earlier than expected, we were actually planning to reveal it in the upcoming days,” writes GSC’s Zakhar Bocharov. “But yes, the game now releases in 2023.”

A game’s launch date is in fact unimportant within the context of struggle, however Stalker 2 is only one of many ways in which Russia’s unlawful invasion has had knock-on results within the gaming and tech trade. GSC Game World is at the moment within the strategy of relocating to Prague, and in March ceased operations in Russia (which resulted within the game’s web site being blocked in an act of petty censorship.) The studio has condemned the “inhuman cruelty” of the invasion, and this can be a query of survival for its staff and their households.