iXBT Games editor-in-chief, Vitaly Kazunov, has said that STALKER 2 will not be released until at least 2024-2025. Citing his own sources in a YouTube video, Kazunov reports that the project is currently in the stage of “permanent repair”.
According to Kazunov, issues started around six months ago during the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Initially, STALKER 2’s development was put on hold, with development resuming again a couple of months later after relocating to Prague,
Kazunov says that most of the staff that started the development of STALKER 2 have since left the studio and the relocation has caused significant issues. Exact details are unknown, but Kazunov suggests that these issues have meant that new employees at the studio are forced to redo, or completely scratch some aspects of the game.
Earlier this month, Xbox began refunding pre-orders for STALKER 2 and stopped talking pre-orders for the game entirely. This isn’t a red flag for a potentially huge delay though, as Microsoft’s policy says that refunds will be issued if a release date of a game is confirmed.
Following the refunds, STALKER 2 developers GSC Game World reported to PCGamer that they “had to postpone the game to 2023 with no exact release date for now”.
“We made the announcement at E3 Microsoft Extended show, alongside the Dev Diary and intro cutscene. Microsoft refunds preorders for the games with no exact release date. When we announce the exact release date later on, the preorders will go live again for Xbox. Pre-orders on PC (Steam, EGS, GOG) are not affected by this.”, it was said.
Insider Gaming cannot independently verify the rumors, but will update the article if we hear more.
UPDATE: In a statement to Insider Gaming, GSC have issued the following statement:
“We usually don’t comment on rumors like this, but due to the absurd nature of the info we will make an exception. This is false, and the game wasn’t delayed once again. Our release date is 2023, just as we announced on Microsoft’s Extended E3 show this summer.”
“We recommend trusting the official GSC sources on all the info about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.” – GSC Game World
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