STALKER 2 devs unveiled a detailed roadmap for the post-apocalyptic shooter. More improvements to the A-Life 2.0 system are coming.
The last major update for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, which introduced and changed many aspects of the game, was made available in mid-March. At the end of last month, however, GSC Game World studio released a larger patch focusing solely on bug fixes. Fans of this post-apocalyptic FPS released in 2024 will not have to wait long for the next big improvements, as the developers have outlined a clear development plan, which they had already announced earlier.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 creators said that the game will be regularly updated this year, which will make it «better in every aspect.» Large patches are supposed to be released every quarter. Besides, developers want to test new features twice before releasing a given update — internally and as part of a closed beta.
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.
GSC Game World studio has already shared the most important updates that will come to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in the second quarter of 2025, which means no later than the end of June. Among them are fixes to the criticized A-Life 2.0 system, responsible for the behavior of independent characters in the Zone.
- People in clashes will be smarter — they will use cover or flank the player better.
- Mutants will react to threats and eat corpses.
- Other «permanent» improvements to A-Life 2.0 will appear.
Finally, we also learned the details about the official mod support for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. In the second quarter of 2025, a closed version of the mod creation tool will be made available to selected creators, followed by the beta ModKit SDK for all players. Moreover, GSC Game World studio will introduce game integration with projects published on mod.io and in the Steam Workshop.
Furthermore, new weapons will be added to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and improvements affecting game optimization will be introduced. Devs note that these are not all the new features that will be added to the game in the coming months — we will only become familiar with the full list of changes after the update is released. It may happen any moment now, as the insider MauroNL noticed the chance of an early download of an undisclosed patch on the Xbox console.
The developers reminded that the «original trilogy» of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (the Legends of the Zone Trilogy) will receive a next-gen update in the second quarter of this year. Details about it are still unknown, but it most likely involves visual improvements to the game version for PS5 and XSX/S.
