(Photo : GSC Game World / Screenshot taken from Steam)
Developer GSC Game World addressed the varied reports that players have been having a lot of issues with the recent launch of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
The studio acknowledged that the game has a lot of "rough edges" but is committed to making improvements to help players have a better experience. The situation follows a rather lengthy and challenging development cycle for the game.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Issues
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl was originally canceled but then revived throughout the years. It also got delayed several times. One factor for this was Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The post-apocalyptic shooter has now arrived on Xbox Series X/S and PC. Players can also play it on Xbox Game Pass.
A lot of players complained that the game suffered from "constant performance issues" as well as an uncontrollable number of bugs. GSC Game World said that STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is its love letter to Ukraine and noted that it was far from complete, according to the Video Games Chronicle.
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It added that they had never before released a game of this year before but noted that it would continue to monitor player feedback. GSC Game World said it will be providing fixes for the variety of issues as quickly as it can.
The developer said that they will focus on hotfixes during the first few days following the release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. They will later switch to larger updates that will provide constant improvements to the game and will release free in-game content in the future.
Addressing Player Complaints
The latter will reportedly be shared with a roadmap that will be coming in December 2024. GSC Game World said it has big plans for the franchise's universe. The release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a return and the beginning of a new adventure for the studio.
Despite the widespread issues in the game, it is still hovering in the mostly positive rating on Steam. This is obviously not bad but it could still be better and will expectedly improve after patches have been released, Games Radar said.
Fans are also more understanding because GSC Game World has been weathering the brunt of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This came during a crucial time for the developer as it was pushing out the game.
The studio recently said that it has worked on fixing 1,125 individual issues since dispatching the review code. These allegedly include crashing problems as well as players encountering progress blockers, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
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