GSC Game World said at Gamescom last year that after several delays, the long-awaited S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl would finally be releasing sometime in Q1 of 2024, but recently, the developer announced that the survival horror open world first-person shooter had been delayed once again, this time being pushed back to September.
In a message published on Twitter to accompany that announcement, GSC Game World has explained the reasoning for the game’s delay, saying that it intends to take the additional time to further polish the experience. As per the studio, as 2024 began, it found “technical imperfections” that it feels bring the game “below the expected standards”.
“On the technical side of things — the game needs more time,” GSC Game World wrote. “Throughout the frankly challenging development process, we understood the time was of the team’s main essence. Seeing the scope of polishing and understanding that we can’t push your patience too much, we were absolutely dedicated to releasing the game in Q1 2024, and we worked extra hard to meet the release window.
“That, however, doesn’t change the fact that at the beginning of this year, we still witnessed the certain amount of technical imperfections that hold S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 below the expected standards for the final experience our fans are waiting for.
“While there is absolutely no way to make another delay sound less dim, we decided to be clear about our reasons to postpone the game for the sake of yet another wave of polishing.”
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is now set to launch on September 5 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.