S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 delayed into December to try to "live up to the expectations"

Given that we've still only seen scraps of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 after years of development and with launch supposedly mere months away, I suppose it's not a surprise to hear the game is delayed. The developers, GSC Game World today announced that they've pushed the launch back by seven months, giving the first-person explore-o-shooter a new release date of the 8th of December. It's the usual perfectly sensible reason: they want it to be good, and they think it needs more time to be good.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the long-awaited sequel to GSC's trilogy of serious (and seriously splendid) shooters set in the irradiated Chernobyl exclusion zone, now swarming with scavengers, mutants, and science-defying anomalies. A great many words have been written on RPS about the wonders and importance of the series across the years. And given that we've waited over a decade for the full numbered sequel, with the company functionally dying in the middle, it doesn't matter so much that it's been delayed from April 28th.

"These additional seven months of development are needed to fulfill our vision and achieve the desired state of the game," GSC Game World said in their statement today. "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the biggest project in the history of GSC, and it requires thorough testing and polishing. We are convinced that development should take as long as necessary, especially in the case of such a project.

"This decision is not an easy one to make, but we are doing the best possible to deliver you a game that can live up to the expectations."

I don't know if it can live up to a decade of expectations, but I like that they're trying.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is now due to launch on December 8th, hitting Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Microsoft's Store, as well as Xbox. It'll cost £50, or alternatively be on Game Pass.

Most importantly, a delay into December doesn't change its status as one of our most anticipated games of 2022.