You seem to be placing a much greater emphasis on the open world action RPG aspect of the experience with Chernobylite 2 compared to its predecessor. What made the team want to pursue such an expanded scope?

The first game was always an RPG and we never attempted to create a shooter. In our vision Chernobylite 2 is an expansion of all the ideas behind Chernobylite 1 – we just gave more freedom and more ways of playing. The key aspect of the first game was to let you experience your Chornobyl adventure in any way you want, so in the second part you’re getting new tools and ways of playing. In Chernobylite 1 we did not have the resources to build a fully open world, but thanks to Unreal Engine 5, new tools and technologies as well as a great and experienced team we were able to face this challenge and create a massive open world and let you play freely in any way you want – without limits of specific missions and locations.

"The first game was always an RPG and we never attempted to create a shooter."

The original game was already noted for its non-linear choice and consequence driven storytelling. As you move forward with the more ambitious Chernobylite 2, is that another area where players can expect the game to double down on what the original did?

Non-linear storytelling and branching has always been our team’s DNA. We designed consequences to players’ choices both in Get Even and in Chernobylite so it’s natural that in Chernobylite 2 the story will be non-linear as well. The sequel will have multiple endings and a branching narrative just as complex.

Can you walk us through how the game’s progression and customization systems will work? How varied players can expect character builds to be in Chernobylite 2?

The player will be able to decide what is the path of developing his character, and we give many tools to do that. At top of it, there is Planewalking, the special feature of the game that allows you to have more than one character at your disposal.

The RPG mechanics in Chernobylite 1 were quite conservative because we were hesitant to venture too far into unfamiliar territory. Now, we’re no longer afraid. In Chernobylite 2, you’ll be able to spend experience points on unlocking one of 45 skills (which all will make a real difference in gameplay), and developing one of six character attributes (such as strength or intelligence), which will impact specific combat elements, unlock hidden dialogue options, grant access to previously unreachable areas, and improve proficiency with various equipment and weapons. So as you see, the player’s freedom to build their character is very significant.

Will pacifist/non-combat builds and options be viable in the game?

The players will have a lot of freedom on how they want to play. In most cases they will have a chance to resolve conflicts diplomatically, however, some missions require fighting so sometimes you will have to pick up your weapon. Still, builds focusing on persuasion and diplomatic approach to make sense.

"The RPG mechanics in Chernobylite 1 were quite conservative because we were hesitant to venture too far into unfamiliar territory. Now, we’re no longer afraid."

How will you be maintaining the horror elements and atmosphere of the original in a game where the player has a lot more options and choices available?

Chernobylite 1 was more of a survival horror RPG, but this time we decided to go deeper in the RPG aspect and design

With Chernobylite 2 being built on Unreal Engine 5, can you tell us what the engine will enable you to achieve with the game from a visuals and technical perspective?

We’re striving to make full use of all the engine’s features – world partition (a system for building an open world), PCG (a system for generating realistic foliage), Metahuman (the entire workflow for character creation and animation), and Lumen (a comprehensive lighting system). These systems allowed us to achieve very good quality and a large scale of the project despite the small size of our team.

Roughly how long is an average playthrough of the game?

A tough question, as everyone plays differently. 50 hours? Maybe more… We’re still in development and we’re going to work and expand the game during Early Access so these numbers may change.

Do you have any plans to bring Chernobylite 2 to the Nintendo Switch successor down the line?

For now on we’re focusing on PC release and later on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s too soon to say more about other platforms but we cannot rule out anything. It just depends not on ‘if’, rather than ‘when’. We did eventually release Chernobylite 1 on Nintendo Switch. The same may happen to Chernobylite 2 one day but, again, we don’t have specific plans for that at the moment.

Given that you have experience working with all the current-gen consoles, I was hoping to pick your brain on some of the differences between them. For instance, where their GPUs are concerned, the PS5 clocks in at 10.28 teraflops, behind the Xbox Series X’s 12 teraflops. In real terms, however, how much of an impact does that difference have during development?

It is too soon to answer this and the following questions regarding consoles at this moment. Currently, we’re focusing on PC Early Access release and delivering the best game quality. A lot may change during this period so any specific answers about console edition technical aspects will be fortune telling.
We’ve proven to release Chernobylite 1 on various platforms regardless of their technical differences in the past, so we believe that we can do it again. We’re happy to discuss the details when it’s closer to console release.

"For now on we’re focusing on PC release and later on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S."

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60 FPS console. Have you faced any problem while developing for it?

Chernobylite is working well on all platforms it’s been released. Today it’s too soon to share details regarding console editions for Chernobylite 2. First we have to focus on Early Access on PC.

Even in early access, there is much more content available than the first game, with the developer touting over 30 hours of gameplay, and the Zone is roughly 20 times bigger. The current build represents 30 to 40 percent of the “final scope” for the world and narrative, with most weapons and equipment already included. You can also expect most gameplay mechanics and content to be polished.

While The Farm 51 targeted an October release for all versions, it’s now estimating six to ten months for early access, meaning a potential push into 2026. Regardless, it wants to utilize that time to let player feedback “influence a project of this scale and to validate together changes made during early access.”

Check out our feature to learn more about Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone’s setting, gameplay mechanics, and new third-person perspective.

Set-up

Remember how the first Chernobylite was set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and centered on Igor Khymynuk exploring its reaches? The sequel is a lot more…out there with its premise. You control Cole Grey, who originates from an alternate dimension and is part of the Planewalker program. Your dimension is an apparent utopia powered by Chernobylite – the only problem is getting more.

As a Planewalker, Cole’s job is to venture to other dimensions and harvest theirs, whether they like it or not, to help keep his home dimension running. Of course, things go wrong after a mission, and Cole finds himself home away from home.

Connection to the First Game

The Exclusion Zone will look pretty familiar for fans of the first game, even with all the Chernobylite popping up. You’ll even run into the Black Stalker, although – spoilers – he’s not immediately trying to kill you. Though the preview build teased a large map, The Farm 51 highlighted “travelling between worlds” in a new Reddit AMA. As a result, you won’t know if “the reality entered is exactly the one you remember from the first game. As a result, the characters you know may recall certain events differently than you do.”

Classes

From the outset, you can choose from six classes – Eliminator, Recon, Emissary, Technician, Scientist and Chernomancer – with varying playstyles. Melee enemies to death with the Eliminator, specialize in guns as the Emissary or mix the two up with Recon. Each specializes in different stats and features unique bonuses like the Recon’s Camouflage Master or the Chernomancer’s ability to convert damage received into health. However, there’s also Planewalking, which allows for quickly swapping your build, though this has yet to be fully detailed.

Third-Person (and Experimental First-Person)

When Chernobylite 2 was first announced, The Farm 51 revealed it as a third-person title, which saw a mixed reception from fans. However, thanks to reaching its crowd-funding stretch goal, first-person perspective has returned, and players can switch between them anytime.

Combat

If you stick with the third-person perspective, the game becomes an intriguing mix of Souls-lite melee combat and over-the-shoulder shooting. You can dodge-roll, execute charged attacks (good for breaking through blocking enemies), and even backstab unsuspecting foes. Some enemies also have shields to tear through before damaging their health.

Attributes and Skill Checks

Chernobylite 2 focuses heavily on Cole’s Attributes, each providing different benefits. Strength affects your melee damage and stamina efficiency, while Perception improves projectile damage and crit chance. However, they also pose secondary benefits – higher Cunning makes it easier to obtain information and lie. While these also determine equippable gear (with penalties inflicted if you don’t meet the requirements), you can leverage Attributes for Skill Checks and dialogue choices. You can’t break through doors without the right amount of Strength, but maybe you can squeeze through openings based on your Cunning.

Skills

Though unavailable in the preview build, Skills fall under three trees – Mutants, Scientists, and Mercs – with multiple tiers and can be either passive or active. Air Control offers mid-air dodging, while Know Your Enemy lets you scan enemies to ascertain their behavior (and potential weaknesses). However, learning anything requires a Trainer, a role that some of your squad-mates can fulfill (based on the Steam listing).

Factions

Those three trees also represent the Zone’s factions, with Kendall leading the Mutants, Milena behind the Scientists and Roy in charge of the Mercs. Each has associated companions (including Glyeb, who you meet throughout the beginning sections) and Reputation meters, so depending on your actions, they may decide to assist. The Farm 51 also teases picking a side when “old conflicts are revived.”

Loot

You’ll be scrounging for a lot in the Zone, including ammo, resources, treasures, money, and consumables. That also includes loot from various armor types with different resistances and shield amounts to weapons like revolvers, assault rifles, shotguns, and melee weapons (including swords and ye olde gas pipe).

Base Building

Base building returns, and though this build didn’t offer the full suite of options, the fundamentals still apply. With the materials gathered from roaming the Zone, you can build rooms, starting with a Small Quartermaster Room and then different stations like a Medical Lab Table for crafting various healing consumables. Other subsequent stations include armor crafting, a chest for storing items, furniture, armor repair, and more. Of course, you can also modify the layout of rooms in the base and shuffle things around.

Vitals

As for survival mechanics, Chernobylite 2 presents multiple Vitals you must take care of. They’re divided into Mind, Bloodstream, Heart, Nervous System, Skin, and Muscles, with different conditions affecting them. For example, fire and slashing damage can result in burns to your skin, but killing humans can warp the well-being of your Heart. Radiation and bullet damage will bestow the irradiation effect in your Bloodstream while using stamina will contribute to sleep and affect your mind.

Co-op

One of the other new features is online co-op, with specific tailored missions throughout the campaign. How exactly this works remains to be seen, but based on the brief footage we’ve seen thus far, you can seemingly take on powerful enemies together.

PC Requirements

The PC requirements for early access seem pretty tame at first, with minimum hardware including an Intel Core i7-7700K and AMD Ryzen 5 1600X, 16 GB RAM, an Intel Arc A580, a GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB or an AMD Radeon RX 580 for 1080p at the Low preset with 30 FPS expected. However, the recommended requirements include a Core i5-12600K or Ryzen 5 5600, 16 GB RAM, and an Arc A770, RTX 3060 (8 GB) or Radeon RX 6700 XT for 1080p at the High preset for an expected…45 FPS.

Despite meeting most of the recommended requirements, the preview build suffered extensive frame drops, especially in the open areas and some cutscenes. This was with DLSS enabled and after dropping some settings to Medium. There’s plenty of optimization work still happening, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

Early Access Content

Though it didn’t outline everything included with the early access launch, The Farm 51 confirmed about one-third of the final game’s content. It’s also seemingly bigger than the first game compared to the amount of content and playtime. Considering Chernobylite 1 required 14.5 hours for the story and 24 hours for completionists on average (per HowLongToBeat), the sequel’s final playtime should be something.

Planned Features

In terms of features, a lot is inbound, based purely on the Kickstarter campaign’s stretch goals. All weapons from the first game return, and they’re customizable in first-person. The new Blaster weapon also gets fresh customization options that weren’t in the original, while co-op/solo play will get more unique maps. Finally, players can customize the HUD in first and third person. The timeline remains to be seen, but considering the team’s turnaround on implementing first-person mode, it could be sooner than expected.

The story concerns former soldier Cole Grey, whose world relies on Chernobylite, which is in short supply. He thus joins the Planewalker initiative to venture into parallel worlds for their Chernobylite materials (taking it into his body). However, he ends up in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, where he meets the previous game’s antagonist, Black Stalker.

Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone will feature a third-person mode alongside the original’s first-person perspective. It also includes the first game’s guns, weapon customization, additional co-op and solo play locations, and more (including an “endless” post-story mode).

Several of these are stretch goals, so how many features will be available in early access remains to be seen. It’s also unknown if the originally planned October 2025 release window will see any shifts based on potential feedback. Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.

The video also features creative director and art director Wojciech Pazdur, as well a host of other members of the game’s development team, who go on to thank the game’s community for helping the game get funded in just the first three days of the Kickstarter campaign.

“Our campaign was funded in just three days and it’s absolutely awesome to have so many of you on board,” said Pazdur in the video. “Big thanks from all the team!”

The video then gives us a look at the new first-person mode that is being developed for Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone. Alongside combat, the trailer also gives us a glimpse at some of the different zones that players can explore in the game.

Narrative designer Sonia Furgalska then takes over the video to talk about the story in Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone. In the video Furgalska talks about the three main characters of the game: Cole Grey, Chernobylite, and the Exclusion Zone itself.

“Our game has three main characters,” explains Furgalska. “The first hero is our protagonist, Cole Grey, a former mercenary, a man with a dark past who becomes trapped in Zona due to an interdimensional catastrophe.”

“The second is Chernobylite, an interdimensional entity taking the form of a green crystalline substance, which is both the largest source of radiation in the universe and a power-conscious, sinister force that seeks to control every planet that exists in [the universe].”

“The third protagonist of the story is the Exclusion Zone itself,” continues Furgalska. “A place where any mistake can cost you your life, but also where you will find everything you need on the road to liberation.”

Leag programmer and animator Artur Kosma then takes the stage to talk about the upcoming game’s first-person mode, as well as why the studio designed the third-person perspective for the combat. The game was originally envisioned as a third-person title since it wanted to give players more options in how they take on enemies, rather than just giving them guns. A third-person perspective would help with aspects like melee combat, for example.

“We wanted to provide more gameplay options, more freedom to create your own unique character and story,” says Kosma. “So, we introduced an extensive character development system and many options for fighting enemies. Since we no longer use not only firearms in combat but also white weapons and various types of chernobylite energy devices, we looked for multiple solutions to provide the players with the best experience in this regard.”

“Still, after seeing the first trailers of the game, many of you felt that playing with a first-person perspective was more natural, and depriving the game of this option would take a toll on the enjoyment of the game.”

Game director Artur Fojcik then spoke about the challenges to add the first-person camera to the game, since it wouldn’t just be a matter of changing the position of the camera in the game engine.

“Adding first-person combat in Chernobylite 2 requires significant changes to the existing animation system, game interface, difficulty balance, and virtual camera work,” explains Fojcik. “In addition, it is necessary to add unique animations to each of the dozens weapons and their attachments.”

“Before we launched in Kickstarter, we developed prototypes of first-person combat and ensured we could make such massive changes at this project stage,” concludes Pazdur. “Thanks to this campaign, we will be able to provide you with a game that is much richer, better tested, and takes into account your comments on its direction.”

Announced quite some time ago, Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone last got a trailer back in October that showcased its gameplay as well as some of the game’s enemies. While the title doesn’t yet have a release date, it is slated to come to PC and consoles some time this year.

While development on Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone began quite some time ago, some fan-request changes made mid-development, like first-person mode, encouraged the studio to opt for crowdfunding.

Thus far, two of its three goals have been achieved, including the addition of the original game’s guns. The third stretch goal will help the studio add first-person weapon customization.

Originally planned as a third-person title that would focus more on its RPG aspects than its shooter aspects, the studio behind Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone, Farm 51, has sought more active feedback from its players. Part of the Kickstarter campaign is that backers would have access to earlier versions of the title.

As an upgrade from its predecessor, Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone will have quite a few new features like base-building and co-op multiplayer for specific missions interspersed throughout the single-player campaign. Players can also plane walk, which allows them to switch up their gear as they need to take on specific situations and challenges. On the action side of things, there will also be a new melee combat system, along with more refined combat skills and shooter gameplay.

Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone received a trailer back in October showing off its gameplay, along with some of monsters players might encounter, as well as a glimpse at a boss fight from the upcoming game.

While it doesn’t yet have a release date, the game is slated to hit shelves sometime this year and will be coming to PC and consoles. In the meantime, players can check out our review for the original Chernobylite.

In a statement about why the studio went with Kickstarter to fund the game’s development, the studio explained that player feedback was valuable, and a major reason for bringing the ability to switch between first-person and third-person cameras.

The studio had originally planned to design Chernobylite 2 as more of an RPG than its predecessor, and less like other first-person shooters.

“The reason why it’s not here already is simple,” wrote the studio. “In the beginning, we decided to focus on RPG-like gameplay and avoid being constantly confused with first-person shooters, which Chernobylite is not at all.”

“We’d like to ask you to join our new Kickstarter campaign in the one but very important goal: to give us the ability to implement the FPP combat system that many of you would love to play,” the studio continued. “First, by confirming that it’s something you really want, then by helping us to fund the extra costs of additional work, and finally, by giving us feedback on how do you feel the new feature works before the game is fully completed and shipped to the masses.”

Since the studio wants players to provide more active feedback, those who contribute to the game’s Kickstarter campaign will also get access to the game’s closed beta and Early Access releases before its full release on Steam.

Among the features coming to Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone is the addition of planewalking, which essentially allows players to change their character’s skill set and equipment on the fly. This will allow players to take on a wider range of challenges, and be prepared for more situations than a single build would allow.

The game will also feature base-building, along with allowing the denizens of this base to be assigned to specific tasks, as well as various factions that players can interact with, and depending on their actions and reactions, potentially fight against.

Interestingly, Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone will also feature a form of co-operative multiplayer. While details on this haven’t yet been revealed, the game’s single-player campaign will also include co-operative missions.

With the Kickstarter campaign, The Farm 51 has set a crowdfunding goal of $97,741. At the time of writing, the campaign has almost met this goal, and is sitting at $73,728 with 872 backers. There is still plenty of time left for the Kickstarter, with 28 more days left to go.

Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone doesn’t yet have a release date aside from a 2025 window. The game is being developed for PC and consoles.

Chernobylite will launch for the Nintendo Switch under a month from now, on December. It will release in the form of a Complete Edition, which means it will include the base game and all of its post-launch content, including two expansions, new modes, locations, and more. Check out the trailer below for a look at what the game will look like in action on the Switch.

Meanwhile, a Premium Edition will also be available, which, on top of the Complete Edition’s full contents, will also include digital codes for the game’s official soundtrack and artbook, as well as two bonus in-game cosmetics. 

Chernobylite is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. 

The developer has announced alongside publisher Untold Tales that Chernobylite is coming to the Nintendo Switch. The survival horror RPG will release on the platform in the form of a Complete Edition, which means it will also include all of its post-launch content. 

A Premium Edition will also be available, which will also include bonus cosmetics, and digital codes of the game’s soundtrack and art book. Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of what the game will look like on the console. 

Chernobylite is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The Switch version doesn’t yet have a release date or window. 

One of the biggest draws of the game is, of course, going to be its titular setting, and that is very much on full display in this trailer, with a number of different creepy environments and bizarre environmental oddities shown off. The trailer also offers glimpses of a handful of characters, as well as several twisted monstrosities that players will be taking on in combat- including one of the game’s boss fights. Check out the trailer below for more details.

Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone is due out sometime in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.