Stalkers rejoice, as developer GSC Game World has detailed what's next for its open-world survival game STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl through the remainder of the year.
The roadmap for STALKER 2 across the rest of 2025 has a lot of juicy stuff, with technical improvements and new modding options alongside entirely new features, in-game tools, and missions. You can see the full list of what's coming below:
- Engine update to Unreal Engine 5.5.4 (for optimization)
- Various Night Vision Devices
- Binoculars
- A-Life Updates
- More A-Life Zone: various technical improvements and updates
- NPCs can't see as good in the dark as before
- NPC Combat Updates
- Mutants Combat and Balance Updates
- New Anomalies
- New missions, from old and new friends
- New weather scenario
- Master difficulty preset
- Extended day/night cycle
- Stashes loot rework
- Stamina and energy drink rework
- Immersive display mode
- Player equipment UI update
- More UI updates and improvements
- Local save backup restoration
- Further optimized and "anomalies" fixing
- Zone Kit — Phase 1 to Phase 2
- Audio modding (Wwise)
- Narrative tools
- Improved compatibility of various mods that interact with common game systems
- Enhanced Blueprints Modification Support
- Technical Improvements and Optimation
- Discord Holiday Event
- More STALKER: Legends of the Zone Enhanced Edition Improvements
- Release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl on PS5 and PS5 Pro
Hopefully, we won't be going too long without more exact details around when to expect each of these new features, but this is a solid roadmap for the rest of the year.
Humorously, patch notes include the forewarning that "mission targets" may be moved from 2025 to 2026 in the event of "Zone instability," meaning, of course, that things could slip because game development is always tricky.
That's especially true given the importance of upgrading to this new version of Unreal Engine 5, which the developers note is their main focus, and could throw off other updates if it needs some extra work.
This upgrade is important, however, as it'll dramatically benefit the game's performance, making it more pleasant to play.
In addition to all the various additions coming to the existing Xbox Series X|S and PC editions of STALKER 2, it's important to note that the developers are working on a PlayStation 5 version of the game, though there's no exact release date right now.
STALKER 2 has already changed radically since it launched
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl impressed when it launched back in 2024, but the game drew a fair amount of criticism for various aspects that seemed underbaked.
This was especially true of the A-Life system, which was meant to make the world feel more lived-in and dynamic, but felt more like it was just spawning enemies the moment players turned around.
The developers have stayed busy, launching multiple updates with hundreds upon hundreds of bug fixes and tweaks, including significant improvements to the A-Life system.
With all of the upcoming content slated to arrive later this year, players who initially bounced off the experience should consider diving back in, especially with two major expansions and a multiplayer mode also on the way.
I enjoyed what I played of STALKER 2 when it first launched, but I really need to make time to hop back in and truly appreciate all of these changes and improvements the developers have made in response to feedback. Maybe in September, because I'll certainly be tied up with how busy October's release schedule now appears to be.
In our review of STALKER 2, my colleague Brendan Lowry wrote that "Some major issues with certain mutant encounters and noteworthy bugs and performance snags take away from the experience, but even so, The Zone will engross you with its haunting wonders. There's truly nothing else like it."
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud, and Windows PC (Epic Games Store and Steam). It's also available in Xbox Game Pass. A PlayStation 5 version is currently in development.
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