The release date for upcoming survival action titleStalker 2: Heart of Chornobylis being referred to as “unconfirmed,” and refunds are being issued by Xbox for those who have already pre-ordered the title. Initially revealed back in 2020,Stalker 2is a direct sequel to the cult-classicStalker: Shadow of Chornobyl. The game was initially planned for a 2022 launch, but there have been quite a fewbig bumps inStalker 2’sroad to completion, the biggest of which being the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For Ukrainian-based developed GSC Game World, this immediately halted development onStalker 2, with the studio claiming that it would not continue work onStalker 2until a Ukrainian victory had been achieved. However, two months after the war started and development was stopped,GSC Game World revealed that work onStalker 2was continuing. It seems that this delay still managed to contribute to a major halt onStalker 2’srelease, as it is now being reported that the game is facing an indefinite delay, resulting in an “unconfirmed” launch.
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As reported by Polish site XGP, it seems that the ability to pre-orderStalker 2has been removed from the Xbox store page, with the reason for this being that the game has been postponed to its “unconfirmed” date and those who have already pre-ordered the game are set to receive refunds. While this isn’t exactly a surprising move consideringStalker 2’srecent development history, it does not bode well for the future of the game.
Back in June,Stalker 2was given a new release window of 2023, but now it seems that this is no longer the planned launch date. Microsoft has yet to officially confirm its reasoning behind the pre-order scenario withStalker 2, but considering the game cannot be purchased on the Xbox store, it seems as though the gaming giant has acknowledged that the future of the title is largely unknown.Stalker 2was set to be a timed Xbox exclusive, launching on the PC and Xbox consoles before it released for PlayStation some months later.
It hasn’t been stated whether that is still the plan, but at the moment it seems any release ofStalker 2is uncertain. Despite some of GSC Game World relocating to the Czech Republic, other members of theStalker 2development team stayed to fight in Ukraine. The most recent bit of content fans have received onStalker 2is the game’s opening sequence, and hopefully in time, more will come from the upcoming survival action title.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobylis in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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