The road to Stalker 2‘s launch has been paved with hardship. Developer GSC Game World moved from Kyiv, Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in 2022, then the studio was hit with a barrage of cyberattacks, and the new Prague office even suffered a fire. Despite all that, GSC persevered and Stalker 2 is here, even if the game is fraught with technical issues. The launch isn’t the end of the story, however, as GSC details what we can expect from the first patch of many.
The first Stalker 2 patch will already be as dense as the Zone itself. GSC Game World promises some big changes and improvements to crashes, quests, balance, visuals, and more with the update, so hopefully any technical issues you’ve been running into so far will disappear. GSC says it will “make every effort to constantly improve” the FPS game, and the post-launch journey starts here.
If Stalker 2 keeps crashing on your PC no matter what you do, that should be fixed with the first patch. GSC says memory allocation failures that occur with rendering, skeletal meshes, and quest cutscenes will be resolved. Several bugs that block the main quest will also be fixed, and some missions are even being revised to ensure they have smooth transitions and don’t lock you out of progressing.
GSC is also going to change how weapon pricing works, so guns with attachments will have a different value from their unmodified counterparts. NPC behavior will also improve, especially if they lack shelter during Emission storms. Visual glitches like missing facial animations, detached heads, and other inconsistencies will also be fixed, so you shouldn’t lose any immersion because an NPC is standing inside a wall.
A handful of Stalker 2 soft locks, which force you to restart the game because you’re stuck, are also going to be fixed. GSC highlights a bug where gamepad players can’t close the trade screen after accidentally putting ammo in the wrong slot, but assures that this will be removed with the patch. For now, I’d be extra careful on the trade screen.
You can rest assured that this patch is the first of many, as GSC adds that analog stick dead zone improvements and the previously detailed Stalker 2 A-life bug fixes are scheduled for a future update.
As Paul outlines in our Stalker 2 review, the game’s technical issues prevent it from being truly great right now, but there’s still a solid survival shooter to be found if you put the work in. “Stalker 2 is an experience that rewards those who persevere. It might not be for everyone – run-and-gun aficionados likely won’t get much out of this FPS game – but if it clicks with you, you’ll get to explore a world that feels deliberate, brutal, and often satisfying.”
GSC Game World is releasing Stalker 2’s first post-launch patch between Monday November 24 and Sunday December 1, and it’s coming to both PC and Xbox.
As you delve into the Zone we’ve brought together all the best Stalker 2 weapons and detailed how you repair them, alongside the best Stalker 2 mods if you want to enhance your experience.
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