GSC Game World is bringing a treat to this year’s Gamescom.
They made this announcement on their official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Twitter account:
“New year, same place. The Zone will be there to test you. Again.
Get ready for #gamescom2024 — as the new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl demo will await you in the public zone.
Cologne, August 21–25.
See you at the @Xbox booth! | @gamescom
#goodhuntingstalkers”
If we went back into how much this game has been delayed, we understand that you might get sick of it. But it seems most gamers have already forgotten that it’s a miracle that we are getting this game at all.
The idea of a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 getting released at all seemed completely unlikely when GSC Game World suddenly went silent after announcing the sequel in 2010, for a 2012 release. But in the intervening months, the studio suffered numerous layoffs and financial difficulties, leading to its closure in 2011. At this point, yes, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was effectively lost media.
To sum up the rest of the story a little quickly, GSC reformed in 2014, made some money and their reputation back with the release of Cossacks 3, and set about working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 again.
GSC broke a deal to publish with Microsoft around 2018, with the game officially being unveiled during E3 2021’s Microsoft presentation. At that time, the game was slated for April 28 2022.
The Russian invasion of GSC Game World’s home country was the main reason for the game’s delay in the past few years, so they cannot be blamed for this development stretching out even further. But it’s really important to appreciate how unlikely for this to happen at all.
And if you were wondering, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is nowhere close to reaching the Guinness World Record for most delayed game in history. The game is still a few months short of matching Duke Nukem Forever’s 15 year period.
For what it’s worth, the Guinness is officially held by indie Game Boy Advance RPG Kien, but that could arguably be matched by Nintendo and Argonaut SNES title Star Fox 2. Both Kien and Star Fox 2 took 22 years to release. We have a feeling S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl won’t take that much longer.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is planned for release on November 20, 2024, on Xbox Series X|S, and Windows, on Steam, Epic Game Store, and GOG. It will also be Day One Game Pass.
