Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is launching on September 5, 2024. This comes after a 15-year development cycle full of delays, some due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Now, Stalker 2 has a firm release date, with the developers just revealing that it will be with us on September 5 of this year. This is a little later than the early 2024 window that we were given previously, but it's at least a specific date this time around.
This release date was just unveiled with a new trailer. It doesn't show us much, simply giving us a short cinematic before the release date is shown on screen, but it is optimistically called "Final Release Date Announcement". That should at least indicate that developer GSC Game World is optimistic that the game won't face any more delays.
Stalker 2's development cycle has been turbulent, initially planned to launch in 2012. After a lengthy hiatus, the project was revived and envisioned to be with us in 2022. However, with GSC Game World being a Ukrainian studio, work was held back significantly by the Russian invasion. Since then, development of the game has continued, although war-related setbacks led the studio to be cautious when it came to promising a release date.
Even after development had resumed, the studio was threatened by hackers over its support of Ukraine. Still, GSC Game World refused to change its stance, even as it faced "constant cyberattacks".
"We are a Ukrainian company, and like most Ukrainians, we have experienced many things that are much more terrifying: destroyed houses, ruined lives, and the deaths of our loved ones," said the developers back in March of last year. "We have been through a lot. However, these challenges only encourage us to work even harder because we believe that the truth is on our side. Evil will never win."
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl will launch on September 5, 2024, and will be available on PC and Xbox Series X/S. As part of its limited-time Microsoft exclusivity, it will also launch on Xbox Game Pass. It remains to be seen if a PlayStation port is on the cards after this deal has expired.
