GSC Game World affirms planned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl changes for Q2 2025

Developer GSC Game World has been working around the clock to consistently improve S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl ever since its arrival at the end of 2024. The launch was hampered by various performance issues and bugs, but many overlooked these and gave the studio a bit of leeway considering the struggles it has faced over the past few years, due to the ongoing conflict in its home country of Ukraine. This hasn't stopped GSC Game World from wanting to better the game, and this is precisely what we can expect in the second quarter of 2025.

In the spirit of transparency, the developer has now revealed what it intends to adjust in the game over the next few months. We can expect A-Life and AI updates, mutant loot, wide-screen aspect ratio support, new weapons, stash window increase, beta mod SDK kits, and even a "next-gen" update for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Original Trilogy. This is of course on top of various stabilisation, optimisation, and bug fixes.

The full slate of planned changes can be seen below, with GSC Game World explaining its ultimate plans for the game as follows:

"The Zone is evolving and will continue to. Throughout the year, we will be delivering updates and hotfixes dedicated to making the game better in every aspect. With proper planning, double testing (internal and closed beta for big updates) of all features and fixes, and your feedback, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl will become the game we imagined — and you deserve."