Stalker 2 has released the long-awaited sequel to the classic on PC Our own Joshua Wolens has been found “he’s still a Stalker, down to his bones.” The most pleasing element for fellow Zone fans is that, after all this time, the game has largely stuck to the design principles of the originals and, as our review states, “hasn’t sacrificed the things that made it so special all those years ago.”
It looks like there might be a market for this. “No wonder the Zone is a bit crowded.” reads fresh post from GSC Game World. “A million copies have been sold, and thanks to Game Pass, many more pursuers have joined the artifact hunt.
“This is just the beginning of our unforgettable adventure. The heart of Chernobyl emanates stronger from each of us. Thank you, stalkers!”
First of all, it’s nice to have a developer that differentiates promotional players from Game Pass players, and secondly, that’s a huge result for a sequel to something like a cult classic. The last Stalker game before it was Call of Pripyat from 2010, but the memories of The Zone stayed with us for a long time.
The fact that Stalker 2 has appeared is already an achievement in itself. The game’s development was blown off course by Russia’s invasion of Ukrainewhich resulted in GSC Game World being forced to relocate while many of its employees left to serve in the Ukrainian Army: At least one, Volodymyr Yezhovkilled in action. Plus a fresh office in Prague survived a stern fire shortly after opening, and in 2023 it was leaked by Russian hackers early test builds games.
In that context, it’s a minor miracle that the game was released at all, never mind that it’s as good as it is. GSC says that completing the game was a way of saying to the world, “We are here” The reassuring thing is that after all it took for Stalker 2 to get here, over a million people came for it too.
