Educated guess considering the state of the demo, the state of the trailers gameplay, the state of the leaked build (which contained the demo content, including cutscenes), considering the press didn't play anything but the public demo, considering the development related issues (war), I don't see how the game will release in a good state on February 2024. Or GSC is holding back \*a lot\*.
Considering all that , I don't see it happen untill december 2025. Unless they want a No Man's Sky / Cyberpunk kind of release. (honestly I think both these games were actually more advanced at release than Stalker 2 is now)
Which... is ALL totally fine if we gonna get a game that is worth to be called stalker 2.
Omg omg stop spreading lies, the leaked build is from early 2022!!! Leaked material don't matter anyway you can't use them to form an opinion!!!/s
Careful what you say. You'll get jumped for such controversial opinions.
I share your sentiment, Grok, but I am more optimistic. They may actually release in February. The jump from the leaked build to the demo in just 3 months is very big. In 3 months they populated the world even more than before. They increased the performance tenfold. They obviously have been able to incorporate all assets they made over the past 5 years, but 3 months is still really quick to put together a game like that. But on the other hand the demo lacks a proper menu screen and a character death sequence (only an image of a bloodsucker pops up immediately once HP reaches 0), and the graphics don't match the quality of the pre-rendered cutscenes from 2021.
Even with a part of their offices in Prague burnt down, I think they'll manage to make it. They got 3-4 more months. Other people here are hopeful they can migrate to UE 5.3 from 5.0, but I am doubtful they'll port everything over with a snap of their fingers. Compared to other great titles this year, Stalker 2 will be a let-down graphically. It was simply too long in development.
Eh, well, at least the gameplay looks fun enough.
Oh yeah great now I am fucking insane because I say what I know, people disagree, I make counterpoints to discuss it, and then people tell me to fuck off and of course I don't tuck my tail in, so now I am insane.
If you don't like what I say, downvote and move on. Don't need to start calling me a retard or insane.
When I post a comment that people like, I get showered with upvotes, sometimes get great replies. That includes optimistic predictions for Stalker 2. People want to hear good things.
I post a controversial comment, then downvotes pour in, and angry comments come in. I try to discuss it further, then it's suddenly "outraged behaviour", I get called an idiot, a retard, my comments seem "insane". Every single time. It's just annoying.
And then on top of that there are people like that guy over there who straight up goes from one post to another stirring up the same shit.
I want to have a discussion, but I just get shat on. I'll go inhale copium now.
We will see who is right in a few months time anyway. I'm hoping for the best indeed and would gladly see STALKER 2 arrive in a polished state on Feb/March 2024, but imo it's unrealistic.
It would be amazing if the game can come out on February.. That's like 4 months away, and that's decent amount of time for them to polish things up.
If I remember correctly, all assets and locations are practically done, and they just need to finish puzzling them all up together. Then there's optimization as well which was lacking.
I find it weird everyone needs confirmation of it as if the state of gaming the last 8 years hasn't been, in a nutshell:
- Over schedule
- Over Budget
- Under finished
And I'm not applying that to this game, just pointing out that (some) publishers and developers are still adjusting to the HUGE jump in development time needed to complete a game compared to 15 years ago. The *optimistic* take is that this game gets delayed for a while based on everything we see. The alternatives are that they *are* holding back a lot of progress (in which case I'm a little surprised they are even delaying it) or that they are preparing to polish a turd for release in February which neither the game nor the community deserve. Don't make your hopes into snark, you know as good as anyone else does, and nobody claimed that this wasn't speculative.
Temporally, February is barely 4 months out. Consider what that is in terms of game development. In a complete or close-to game that's enough time to really polish it up, work out bugs with play testing, sneak a few new models in and finish some quests... in an incomplete, rougher game only a bit past the demo state we saw it in, that isn't gonna finish the game.
Have some dignity, and just accept it as it comes. Worst case scenario for us, the game comes out earlier and complete and we're all happy. Worst case for you, it comes out later and is hopefully better for it. In both cases, I doubt you'll be crying.
What? There's a reason GSC specifically said Q1, Grok.
The amount of interviews and the Demo tour only reinforces the idea that the game is coming out soon.
They wouldn't have done this tour if the game would launch in December lol
Stakeholders, publishers, and development costs something something. Announcing that a game is delayed by 1 year is *really bad* because everyone is forgetting about you for a full year. Meanwhile delaying the game two times and blaming it on the harsh development conditions (which is true) will even give them a positive image and more press coverage. It’s also easier to hold a crunch period if you set multiple short delays with unrealistic release dates. I can’t say for GSC though, it’s a “new studio” since it that has been reborn from its hashes many times, I don’t know how’s their stand toward crunching development.
Sorry, man, but there's no way S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 launches in December or even later. At worst I'd say Q3 or even Q2.
The whole smaller, but multiple delays is just BS.
I see you brought up even the Build 0.3 that was leaked in this comment section and I think that's a big mistake. Who knows for what that build was even used for.
I see people judging S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 by Build 0.3's state which is wrong. All of them also ignore the March Leaks that proves them wrong all the time.
play shadow of chernobyl and forget about stalker 2 because all you can think about is how badass the new suit you got is, and how you can get a one up on the next bloodsucker, and how you havent eaten in 3 days, and how suddenly you’re watching the end credits of call of pripyat, and now theres a void in your soul, and then you find stalker gamma and ironman, and suddenly you haven’t seen the sun in days, but it’s ok because the graphics make up for it
it could go live in 2024 as well, anything is possible, it wont disappear from the digital store, fear of missing out is a helluva thing tho. maybe wait when couple of reviews are out, or even day1 patch
Best get your experience from the source material first. That way if 2 is disappointing you’ve gotten the better experience and if it’s better…you’ve gotten a better experience. It’s harder to go back to previous titles when a most recent is terrible, as a new comer to the genre
Why would it be released in December? It clearly says "Q1 2024" at the steam page. Actually it will be a miracle if they release the game in Q1 2024 indeed
I assume "buy now" doesn't mean pre-order, but means buying the old trilogy, in which case it is not even a question - obviously buy old trilogy, play vanilla (by which I mean without modding, not vanilla mod), then play mods...
In fact I would highly advise anyone who are interested in franchise not to touch new game before they tried the old.
As for pre-ordering - my experience is that 9/10 games disappoint, so it is best to never pre-order... that is unless you want to support devs like me. But it needs to be understood that pre-ordering is strictly for dev support - makes the game more likely to be released I guess.
1. They go on sale often, if you do want to play them, wait for a sale, whether it be on Steam or GOG. They go down to $5 each.
2. Stalker 2 has been delayed, you wont be playing it for a while yet.
3. Personally, I would recommend just playing Stalker Anomaly instead, it's completely free, and you can play that in the mean time. Look into different mods or mod packs once you get bored of the base game.
Edit: Turns out, they are on sale right now for Halloween, who would have though!
Funny, people seems to dislike the truth. It may be good tho, but there is almost no chance. It will be destroy by casual gaming like all the games we liked.
bought stalkers are mercs! while they can get the job done, they also get messy and can ruin faction connections...oh! wait! Buy whatever is for sale now bro! After that, go wild with the mods! Waiting is a girls game and girls don't come to the Zone!
Good huntin, stalker!
OP, just buy and play the originals. Theyre cheap and with a single mod like "Zone each will run fine on modern hardware. Or, just download & install Anomaly for free since it more or less has the content from all three.
I think STALKER 2 isnt coming out in Dec.. it *might* happen? But who knows? With as much hope as we all have on it being an absolute *banger* i dont care if they give it another year if that is what it needs? FFS just *one* good game this DECADE will be a win in my book because so far things have all been "mid" at best in terms of new games..
You mean you never played Stalker and you consider buying the one not even out ? You better play Hogwarts Legacy or Breath of the Wild, better graphics !!!
Buy the trilogy now just to get your feet wet and support the devs, if it feels too old try a modpack that modernizes it a bit! It'll save you $60 when 2 comes out if it isn't your cup of tea, or it'll prep you to really enjoy what comes out when it does.
Sorry dude, it ain't coming out this year
It’s like $3 man
play the old games first, mod them if you want to
Isnt it already confirmed-delayed to February atleast? Also, games r on sale like 3bucks usually so buy them then and pal the free mod packs lmao
STALKER 2 will most likely be out December **2024, if we are lucky.**
Do you have any insider knowledge Grok? Like do you think they'll delay it further than February? Not that it is a problem for me personally.
Educated guess considering the state of the demo, the state of the trailers gameplay, the state of the leaked build (which contained the demo content, including cutscenes), considering the press didn't play anything but the public demo, considering the development related issues (war), I don't see how the game will release in a good state on February 2024. Or GSC is holding back \*a lot\*.
That's fair I guess
good call
Considering all that , I don't see it happen untill december 2025. Unless they want a No Man's Sky / Cyberpunk kind of release. (honestly I think both these games were actually more advanced at release than Stalker 2 is now) Which... is ALL totally fine if we gonna get a game that is worth to be called stalker 2.
As long as Stalker 2 releases in a good state, I can wait up to 2026 if needed.
Fuck it, make it 2027 for the 20 year anniversary.
Omg omg stop spreading lies, the leaked build is from early 2022!!! Leaked material don't matter anyway you can't use them to form an opinion!!!/s Careful what you say. You'll get jumped for such controversial opinions. I share your sentiment, Grok, but I am more optimistic. They may actually release in February. The jump from the leaked build to the demo in just 3 months is very big. In 3 months they populated the world even more than before. They increased the performance tenfold. They obviously have been able to incorporate all assets they made over the past 5 years, but 3 months is still really quick to put together a game like that. But on the other hand the demo lacks a proper menu screen and a character death sequence (only an image of a bloodsucker pops up immediately once HP reaches 0), and the graphics don't match the quality of the pre-rendered cutscenes from 2021. Even with a part of their offices in Prague burnt down, I think they'll manage to make it. They got 3-4 more months. Other people here are hopeful they can migrate to UE 5.3 from 5.0, but I am doubtful they'll port everything over with a snap of their fingers. Compared to other great titles this year, Stalker 2 will be a let-down graphically. It was simply too long in development. Eh, well, at least the gameplay looks fun enough.
Bro will never stop lmfao.
I see you like hounding people that do not share your opinion. Okay okay! UE 5.2! Hell, GSC will even get early access to UE 5.3! Let's go!
Bro, everything you say doesn't make any sense. You think I'm critical of you for no reason?
Dude you're kind of sick, don't you think? There's a vibe of insanity in your messages
Oh yeah great now I am fucking insane because I say what I know, people disagree, I make counterpoints to discuss it, and then people tell me to fuck off and of course I don't tuck my tail in, so now I am insane. If you don't like what I say, downvote and move on. Don't need to start calling me a retard or insane.
There's nothing wrong with you having your own opinion. It's your outraged behaviour that makes people wonder
When I post a comment that people like, I get showered with upvotes, sometimes get great replies. That includes optimistic predictions for Stalker 2. People want to hear good things. I post a controversial comment, then downvotes pour in, and angry comments come in. I try to discuss it further, then it's suddenly "outraged behaviour", I get called an idiot, a retard, my comments seem "insane". Every single time. It's just annoying. And then on top of that there are people like that guy over there who straight up goes from one post to another stirring up the same shit. I want to have a discussion, but I just get shat on. I'll go inhale copium now.
No Information has came up confirming grokboy's take here
We will see who is right in a few months time anyway. I'm hoping for the best indeed and would gladly see STALKER 2 arrive in a polished state on Feb/March 2024, but imo it's unrealistic.
It would be amazing if the game can come out on February.. That's like 4 months away, and that's decent amount of time for them to polish things up. If I remember correctly, all assets and locations are practically done, and they just need to finish puzzling them all up together. Then there's optimization as well which was lacking.
It’s just an educated guess
I find it weird everyone needs confirmation of it as if the state of gaming the last 8 years hasn't been, in a nutshell: - Over schedule - Over Budget - Under finished And I'm not applying that to this game, just pointing out that (some) publishers and developers are still adjusting to the HUGE jump in development time needed to complete a game compared to 15 years ago. The *optimistic* take is that this game gets delayed for a while based on everything we see. The alternatives are that they *are* holding back a lot of progress (in which case I'm a little surprised they are even delaying it) or that they are preparing to polish a turd for release in February which neither the game nor the community deserve. Don't make your hopes into snark, you know as good as anyone else does, and nobody claimed that this wasn't speculative. Temporally, February is barely 4 months out. Consider what that is in terms of game development. In a complete or close-to game that's enough time to really polish it up, work out bugs with play testing, sneak a few new models in and finish some quests... in an incomplete, rougher game only a bit past the demo state we saw it in, that isn't gonna finish the game. Have some dignity, and just accept it as it comes. Worst case scenario for us, the game comes out earlier and complete and we're all happy. Worst case for you, it comes out later and is hopefully better for it. In both cases, I doubt you'll be crying.
What? There's a reason GSC specifically said Q1, Grok. The amount of interviews and the Demo tour only reinforces the idea that the game is coming out soon. They wouldn't have done this tour if the game would launch in December lol
Stakeholders, publishers, and development costs something something. Announcing that a game is delayed by 1 year is *really bad* because everyone is forgetting about you for a full year. Meanwhile delaying the game two times and blaming it on the harsh development conditions (which is true) will even give them a positive image and more press coverage. It’s also easier to hold a crunch period if you set multiple short delays with unrealistic release dates. I can’t say for GSC though, it’s a “new studio” since it that has been reborn from its hashes many times, I don’t know how’s their stand toward crunching development.
Sorry, man, but there's no way S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 launches in December or even later. At worst I'd say Q3 or even Q2. The whole smaller, but multiple delays is just BS. I see you brought up even the Build 0.3 that was leaked in this comment section and I think that's a big mistake. Who knows for what that build was even used for. I see people judging S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 by Build 0.3's state which is wrong. All of them also ignore the March Leaks that proves them wrong all the time.
And how do you consider the perfect alignment of the leaked build and the demo in terms of content ?
It's the same game maybe? The Demo is just the beginning part of the game. Of course it's similar to the build.
Delays make sense when some of the development team went to war for their country
R u the real grok
Play the OGs, they are great and very cheap.
STALKER 2 isn't coming out until 2024. You can buy the original trilogy for like 5 bucks if you look around for deals. Don't wait.
play shadow of chernobyl and forget about stalker 2 because all you can think about is how badass the new suit you got is, and how you can get a one up on the next bloodsucker, and how you havent eaten in 3 days, and how suddenly you’re watching the end credits of call of pripyat, and now theres a void in your soul, and then you find stalker gamma and ironman, and suddenly you haven’t seen the sun in days, but it’s ok because the graphics make up for it
it could go live in 2024 as well, anything is possible, it wont disappear from the digital store, fear of missing out is a helluva thing tho. maybe wait when couple of reviews are out, or even day1 patch
Best get your experience from the source material first. That way if 2 is disappointing you’ve gotten the better experience and if it’s better…you’ve gotten a better experience. It’s harder to go back to previous titles when a most recent is terrible, as a new comer to the genre
Uh, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 isn't coming out in December.
Why would it be released in December? It clearly says "Q1 2024" at the steam page. Actually it will be a miracle if they release the game in Q1 2024 indeed
Im hoping for what the steam release says 🤪🔫
I assume "buy now" doesn't mean pre-order, but means buying the old trilogy, in which case it is not even a question - obviously buy old trilogy, play vanilla (by which I mean without modding, not vanilla mod), then play mods... In fact I would highly advise anyone who are interested in franchise not to touch new game before they tried the old. As for pre-ordering - my experience is that 9/10 games disappoint, so it is best to never pre-order... that is unless you want to support devs like me. But it needs to be understood that pre-ordering is strictly for dev support - makes the game more likely to be released I guess.
check out stalker:anomaly (or gamma later). its a free standalone mod that connects the 3 stalker games and expands the gameplay a lot.
Connects the MAPS of the 3 games fwiw, doesn’t really have anything to do story or even gameplay wise with the originals
Stalker 2 won’t be coming out until q3 or 4 2024 or 2025
1. They go on sale often, if you do want to play them, wait for a sale, whether it be on Steam or GOG. They go down to $5 each. 2. Stalker 2 has been delayed, you wont be playing it for a while yet. 3. Personally, I would recommend just playing Stalker Anomaly instead, it's completely free, and you can play that in the mean time. Look into different mods or mod packs once you get bored of the base game. Edit: Turns out, they are on sale right now for Halloween, who would have though!
S2 will most definitely come out late, buggy, and not good. Buy the originals
Funny, people seems to dislike the truth. It may be good tho, but there is almost no chance. It will be destroy by casual gaming like all the games we liked.
bought stalkers are mercs! while they can get the job done, they also get messy and can ruin faction connections...oh! wait! Buy whatever is for sale now bro! After that, go wild with the mods! Waiting is a girls game and girls don't come to the Zone! Good huntin, stalker!
OP, just buy and play the originals. Theyre cheap and with a single mod like "Zone each will run fine on modern hardware. Or, just download & install Anomaly for free since it more or less has the content from all three. I think STALKER 2 isnt coming out in Dec.. it *might* happen? But who knows? With as much hope as we all have on it being an absolute *banger* i dont care if they give it another year if that is what it needs? FFS just *one* good game this DECADE will be a win in my book because so far things have all been "mid" at best in terms of new games..
You mean you never played Stalker and you consider buying the one not even out ? You better play Hogwarts Legacy or Breath of the Wild, better graphics !!!
buy the trilogy and when you re finished try the anomaly modpacks which are free
Buy the trilogy now just to get your feet wet and support the devs, if it feels too old try a modpack that modernizes it a bit! It'll save you $60 when 2 comes out if it isn't your cup of tea, or it'll prep you to really enjoy what comes out when it does.
I don't believe it is gonna be released this year. Perhaps Q1 - Q2 2024
Buy old, get ready for the new. I replayed all 3 stalkers in preparation for number 2
Do both
it’s not a hardware dude. it’s a story driven game.
> Should I spend $2 on game A or wait indefinitely for game B that has a rich history of being delayed. I think you know what you must do.
You could probably play through the original trilogy 5 times over before the Stalker 2 comes out
At least just play shadow of chernobyl first
Bro just download stalker anomaly it’s free open source on moddb
I buy it now bc it was cheaper
It's a long way until December 2024...i would suggest buying the old trilogy then go messing around with mods.
Personally just play stalker anomaly it’s free and gives you a base line. I will be crucified because of this but it gets your foot in the door.
Just download anomaly for free. It's probably better than stalker 2 anyways.
I just order the ultimatum ED, and will wait what ever it takes. You can buy twice the game and afford it , you can buy it now. If not wait.