Rumors started to spread earlier today that STALKER 2 had been delayed until 2024/25 as the game was in a stage of “permanent repair”, but these delay rumors have now been denied by developer GSC Game World. According to their statement about the “absurd” rumors, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl release date is still some time in 2023.
STALKER 2 was not delayed once again despite rumors
The rumors were started by iXBT Games editor-in-chief, Vitaly Kazunov, in a Youtube video where he claimed STALKER 2 began suffering from issues six months after GSC Game World’s native Ukraine was invaded by Russia. While it is true that the game’s development was halted for a couple of months to allow the developer to relocate to Prague, as confirmed in a heartbreaking developer diary, Kazunov then alleged the relocation had caused significant issues including that most of the staff had left the studio. The rumors said new employees were completely redoing or scrapping some aspects of STALKER 2, leaving it in a stage of “permanent repair” meaning there would be another delay until 2024/25.
GSC Game World was extremely quick to refute the rumors via Discord and has since released an official statement to Insider Gaming refuting the “absurd nature of the info”:
“We usually don’t comment on rumors like this, but due to the absurd nature of the info we will make an exception. This is false, and the game wasn’t delayed once again. Our release date is 2023, just as we announced on Microsoft’s Extended E3 show this summer. We recommend trusting the official GSC sources on all the info about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.”
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is currently set to be released at some point in 2023 for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
In other news, Ed Sheeran’s Pokemon song Celestial has been given a release date for Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music. Elsewhere, the Dragon Quest Treasures base building mechanic has been explained in a new trailer.
