GSC Game World has revealed the first screenshot for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 on the 13th anniversary of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl’s release. It’s not much but it’s a small sign towards overall development being underway. The developer also noted that it had been “inspired” by all of the stories, art, mods and so on that fans have created over the years.

“Being inspired by everything you do (including arts, stories, cosplays and mods), we fully understand we can’t let you down. The second chapter of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. saga will be our most ambitious game so far. It will live to the legendary legacy.” It also said that there would be “more to come” later this year.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has been a long time coming. It was first announced in 2010 and slated to release in 2012 before being cancelled. In May 2018, GSC Game World confirmed that the sequel was back in development. However, its early announcement was meant to drive publisher interest more than anything.

Earlier this year, however, the developer revealed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 would run on Unreal Engine. It didn’t confirm or deny whether the title would be exclusive to the Epic Games Store so stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Among the many, many high-profile games coming out in the next few years is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Announced in May 2018 but only really to drive publisher interest, it’s hard to really say what state the game is in. It was originally announced in 2010 and cancelled in 2012 before being resurrected after all.

However, in a new update on the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Twitter, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will be powered by Unreal Engine. Developer GSC Game World says it was constantly searching for the “best technologies to work with” and that Unreal Engine was the “most suitable choice for us”. More importantly, it helps to make modding easier and more accessible.

While visual fidelity should be strong, Unreal Engine will also likely provide a better gameplay experience. It’s too early to say though especially since we don’t know what platforms S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will release on, whether it will be exclusive to PC and so on. However, since it’s being developed on Unreal Engine, does that mean some kind of exclusivity to the Epic Games Store in the future?

The developer acknowledged that people would be thinking this and said, “This announcement has nothing to do with platforms or digital stores. We will talk about this later.” Stay tuned for hopefully more details in the coming months.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is powered by Unreal Engine: pic.twitter.com/RdDWr4yYj3

— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) January 2, 2020

It’s been a rocky road for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 – to say the least, but in May of 2018, developers GSC Game World confirmed that the sequel to the 2007 cult classic was finally in development (again) and that it would be launching in 2021. Beyond that, however, we know absolutely nothing about the game, while updates on it have also been non-existent since the aforementioned announcement.

That might be about to change soon, however. As spotted by a user over on ResetEra, Denis Rudoy, who is a level designer on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, posted an image of himself on social media wearing a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 shirt, accompanied with the caption “ready to #Gamescom.” When asked if there will be a booth for the game at the gaming trade fair, he coyly replied with just a “shhh” emoji. This post was eventually deleted, but you can see a screenshot below. It’s also worth noting that members of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 development team have been spotted heading to Cologne, Germany for Gamescom too- so it’s looking pretty likely that we’ll be seeing something from the game soon.

That said, with a couple of years left to go before we get to the game’s announced release window, perhaps it might be too soon for the developers anything too substantial. Either way, we’ll find out soon enough, so stay tuned to GamingBolt for all the updates.

Have you wanted a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game for so long but thought the franchise was dead? GSC Game World just announced via its Cossacks 3 Facebook page that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is coming. The image above indicates that it’s out in 2021 and honestly, we’re as surprised as anyone else.

That’s because S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was originally announced in 2010 with a release for 2012. Though it was stated to be cancelled, GSC Game World further reiterated the game’s existence in December 2011. Several months later, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was confirmed cancelled and things pretty much laid to rest. Until now, that is.

The official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 website doesn’t have much information aside from the “2.0.2.1.” number and given the long development period, it might be a while before we hear anything about it. Is it in development for current generation platforms? Will it possibly release for the next generation? Are all those annoying bugs that got in the way of gameplay finally gone? Time till tell so stay tuned for more information.

Following this Stalker 2 saga is like following a fast bird, it’s hard to know where it is going. I think we may have finally reached the conclusion to this drama. Stalker 2 isn’t being made, and I know plenty of you will be upset at this news.

It wasn’t due to monetary concerns either. They are now under the Vostok Games banner and are working on a new game called Survarium. It’s a spiritual successor to Stalker and is a free-to-play MMO.

“We did not reach agreement with the rights owner regarding the use of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. brand, that’s why we made the decision to move forward as an independent studio with a new project. That day became our starting point for Vostok Games,” a post on their website read.

“Vostok Games is a new studio founded by veterans of Ukrainian game industry with multi-year experience of developing and releasing commercially successful projects. In March 2012 we reached agreement with Vostok Ventures Ltd. to back up the financing of our new game – free2play MMOFPS Survarium (working title).”

It has also been rumoured that the owner sold the Staker IP to Bethesda, but you know how rumours are.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

GSC Game World has announced that they are officially working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2.

“After the official sales of the series exceeded 4 million copies worldwide, we had no doubts left to start creating a new big game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe. This will be the next chapter of the mega-popular game players expect from us” said the CEO of GSC Game World, Sergiy Grygorovych.

The game might also be making its way to consoles, due to the fact that it will have ‘A completely new multi-platform technology developed by GSC’

The game is due for release in 2012.

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