Key Takeaways
- Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl has officially gone gold ahead of its release on November 20.
- Having previously been announced all the way back in 2010, Stalker 2 and the people behind it faced myriad internal and real-life challenges to ship the game.
- It’s a testament to the team’s strength and perseverance that the game is now ready to be enjoyed by all.
After more than a decade in development, including real-life turmoil and delays, Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl has officially gone gold. In other words, the game has been completed, and is ready for release in just a few short days on November 20.
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Taking to social media, the official Stalker Twitter account first relayed the news, before a YouTube trailer was also revealed to help commemorate the occasion.
Both posts have the tagline — See you in the Zone, stalkers — and have been extremely well-received, owing to the team’s courageousness in shipping the title.
It’s Been A Long Road
Originally, Stalker 2 was revealed all the way back in 2010, with a release date marked for 2012. Indeed, an article from 2010 features GSC Game World, the team behind Stalker, revealing that the series had exceeded over four million units sold, making a sequel a no-brainer.
However, in the time since that announcement, the studio was dissolved, only to be resurrected a short time later. At that time, the game was re-announced, this time with a 2021 targeted release. A tumultuous development cycle was also impacted by the real-life invasion of Ukraine by Russia, putting the game and the people behind it in a dire situation.
Still, despite the real-life and internal challenges, hope was not lost, and here we are. The game, which was always real, is now in an official state to be shipped. A documentary about the challenges faced was also produced, and helped paint the picture of just what GSC underwent. Regardless of how the game performs critically or commercially, it’s a testament to the team’s own perseverance to achieve the goal it set out on well over a decade ago.
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