Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl launched on November 20 after years of development, and it seems to be off to a solid start. Developer GSC Game World announced that the first-person survival game has cleared 1 million copies sold across PC and Xbox, but that doesn’t tell the entire story of how many people have played it.
In its statement, GSC said that in addition to the 1 million sales, “much more stalkers” have joined in thanks to Game Pass. The studio did not specify how many people are playing on Game Pass, however.
There is an ongoing discussion about whether or not releasing on Game Pass at launch negatively impacts sales. There are no definitive answers, and every game is different. For Stalker 2, we don’t know anything about the budget, sales projections, break-even points, or anything else. Whether or not 1 million sales for Stalker 2 is a good number is unknown, but it’s something that GSC is celebrating publicly.
No wonder it feels a bit crowdy in the Zone. A million copies were sold, and much more stalkers joined the artifact hunt with Game Pass.
This is just the start of our unforgettable adventure. The Heart of Chornobyl emanates stronger with each of us.
Thank You, stalkers! ☢️ pic.twitter.com/zslF7I8vR1— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) November 22, 2024
Stalker 2 is the first entry in the series since 2009’s Call of Pripyat, so there was seemingly a good amount of pent-up demand for the next Stalker game. It’s had a long and bumpy road to release, as Stalker 2 was originally announced to release all the way back in 2012. The game was in fact canceled in 2012, but later reemerged and was eventually made using Epic’s Unreal Engine 5.
Stalker 2 was later reassigned a 2022 release date, but the game’s development was halted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where the studio has offices. It later shifted to September 2024 before getting delayed once more to November 20, a date that stuck.
In addition to being available for outright purchase, Stalker 2 is available as part of Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. For more, check out some of the other Game Pass titles arriving this month in the gallery below.
For more, check out GameSpot’s Stalker 2 review and our Stalker 2 guides hub.