GSC Game World has announced a delay for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl. Instead of April 28th, it will now launch on December 8th. The developer explained its decision in a new tweet, noting that, “These additional seven months of development are needed to fulfill our vision and achieve the desired state of the game.” It described S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 as the “biggest project in the history of GSC” and that it required “thorough testing and polishing.”
“We are convinced that development should take as long as necessary, especially in the case of such a project. This decision is not an easy one, but we are doing the best possible to deliver you a game that can live up to the expectations.” It did note that more information and updates would be coming along with showcases so expect to see some new gameplay in the coming months at least.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl has had a long development history, having initially been announced in 2010. Following several years of development and the dissolution of GSC Game World, the project cancelled in April 2012. However, the studio would be revived in December 2014 and announced in 2018 that the sequel was back in development.
Since then, it’s had a gameplay showcase at E3 2021 and was confirmed to be launching exclusively for Xbox Series X/S and PC with a day one release for Xbox Game Pass. Time will tell how development pans out so stay tuned.