It looks like Stalker 2’s release may have slipped to early 2024

It looks as though Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl may now be released in early 2024.

While Xbox, Steam, GOG and Epic Games Store listings still state that the game will launch this year, the official Stalker 2 site contains conflicting information about its planned release date.

On its homepage, the game’s official website says it will be “available 2023”, but elsewhere, in what appears to be a new fact sheet, it also suggests players might have to wait a little longer to play the post-apocalyptic shooter sequel.

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“Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl releases on PC and Xbox Series X/S in Q1 2024,” it reads. “The game will be available on Game Pass day one, and preorders are opened on our website, as well as on Steam and GOG. Preorder of physical editions available on official website.”

VGC contacted Ukrainian developer GSC Game World on Wednesday for an update on Stalker 2’s launch window, but hadn’t heard back at the time of publication.

The game’s release date has seemingly been up in the air since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February. At the time, GSC Game World was based in Kiev, but it has since partially relocated to the Czech Republic.

Not all of its staff were able to leave Ukraine, however, with a number of developers continuing to work on the game from the war-torn country, where their lives had been turned upside down.

Other GSC Game World staff joined volunteering efforts in Ukraine or the country’s armed forces, including several employees featured in a development diary released last June, which showed how the war had impacted the team and its work.

GSC Game World CEO and game director Evgeniy Grygorovych further discussed these challenges during an IGN interview (viewable above) conducted at Gamescom in Germany this week, where Stalker 2 is playable for the first time.

Today, August 24, marks Ukraine’s Independence Day. On this date in 1991, it declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

“On this Independence Day, we have a tremendous possibility to demonstrate our game to the world and move forward in its development,” reads a message posted on Stalker’s official Twitter account today. “And we don’t forget that this chance is granted by defenders of our homeland, its freedom, and its borders.”