New reality: the success of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl will allow GSC to add cut content to the game

Head of development S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Evgeny Grigorovich and lead producer Maria Grigorovich in an interview with IGN told what the success of the post-apocalyptic shooter means for GSC Game World.

Image Source: GSC Game World

Let us remind you that sales of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl exceeded one million copies within two days of release. The game has also already paid off and may receive a TV series adaptation from Netflix.

Because of the project’s success, GSC was faced with a “new reality,” according to the Grigorovichs. The studio now has “a very large audience, and different parts of it may want different things.”

«We have to live with this new reality and active community, dialogue with it and try to understand it more deeply, because we really want a good relationship [with the players],” Grigorovich explained.

According to Grigorovich, the GSC compiled even before the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 game development plan for the next 10-15 years remains in force, but the studio will spend much more resources on supporting the project than originally expected.

Grigorovich also confirmed that the success of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will allow elements that were cut during development to be added to the game: “I love the world we’ve built, but I still see a lot of areas for improvement. And now we have players for whom we can, must, do this.”

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was released on November 20 on PC, Xbox Series X and S (including Game Pass), but is not yet coming to PS5. Since the end of last week, the game has received several patches, including the last one in 2024 – the next one will be released in early 2025.