Stalker 2

19 articles

Stalker 2 news

"We're not doing something that everyone [would] do": After Cost of Hope, Stalker 2 devs are working on multiplayer which won't be "session-based" like Counter Strike

What's that coming through the hiss and crackle of static? It's a transmission from the Gamescom zone, where a trio of RPS survivalists are fighting to stay alive amid all manner of hazards. You don't want to know the things they've told us about the loos. One of them, James, has ended up hunkered down in the same room as Stalker 2 devs GSC Game World and had the chance to ask them what's in store for the game now its 2.0 update and Cost of Hope expansion are out. The answer is a "different" sec

Rock Paper Shotgun / Mark Warren

Interview

Here's What The New Stalker 2.0 Update Looks Like On Xbox Series X|S

First impressions of the new Unreal Engine version. Earlier this week, we highlighted the brand-new Stalker 2: Cost of Hope DLC and how it was getting extremely positive reviews, but we didn't talk that much about the other major addition in the form of the free 2.0 update. This is a seriously massive update for Stalker 2 that's described by the team as "our biggest overhaul to how the Zone looks, feels, and lives since launch", featuring a new Unreal Engine upgrade, tons of A-Life updates, new

Pure Xbox

Update

Roundup: The First Reviews Have Arrived For Stalker 2 - Cost Of Hope

DLC is available now, alongside a free Unreal Engine 5 2.0 update! Well, reviews are in for Stalker 2's first major expansion, 'Cost of Hope', and it's off to a flying start! GSC Game World released its premium DLC today, alongside a massive Unreal Engine 5 update that's free to everyone who owns the base game. Stalker 2 has grown on us since we originally reviewed it, so it's lovely to see Cost of Hope currently holding down an 85 on Metacritic. Read the full article on purexbox.com

Pure Xbox

Review

STALKER 2: Cost of Hope review: An expanded Zone that begs to be explored, even as its faction war fizzles

Like the technical fix-uppery of the 2.0 update it’s launching alongside, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s Cost of Hope expansion arrives with a determinedly furrowed brow; that kind of enthusiastic, if just slightly contrite, look of someone hellbent on righting their own past wrongs. Of course, most of the open-world shooter’s past crimes are long absolved, if not forgiven immediately on the grounds that they were committed amid an actual war. But Cost of Hope does serve as a second chance for

Rock Paper Shotgun / James Archer

Review

Stalker 2 is finally letting us explore the Chornobyl Power Plant

GSC Game World has released a new deep dive video to showcase its upcoming Stalker 2 DLC, Cost of Hope.

Eurogamer / Vikki Blake

Trailer

Stalker 2 Developers Announce Cost of Hope Expansion, Major 2.0 Update, Both Coming Soon

As a huge fan of the base game, I'm excited. Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl was the best game I played in 2024, with bags of atmosphere, genuinely exciting gunplay and cool tech, so I'm excited to say that the first expansion pack is finally on the horizon. Developers GSC Game World announced that "Cost of Hope" story expansion will be released on August 20th, just over three weeks away, alongside a "2.0" update that will add some long-requested features to the game. Read the full article on dig

Digital Foundry

Announcement

Stalker 2: Cost Of Hope Gets August 2026 Release Date For Xbox, PS5 & PC

Launches alongside major 2.0 Unreal Engine 5 update. GSC Game World has just announced the first major expansion for Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is set to release on August 20, 2026. We got a new trailer for the upcoming DLC Cost of Hope, which introduces two new regions with plenty more "horrors and mysteries of the Zone" to encounter. The expansion arrives alongside a massive 2.0 Unreal Engine 5 update. Read the full article on purexbox.com

Pure Xbox

Release date

Stalker 2's Huge Free 2.0 Update and Its First Major Story Expansion Have a Joint Release Date

Stalker 2 not only has a release date for its first major story expansion, but its huge free 2.0 update.

IGN / Wesley Yin-Poole

Release date

STALKER 2's Cost of Hope expansion, and its free but still hopeful 2.0 update, get an August release date

Grab your Geiger counter and your copy of The Arbinger Institute’s seminal conflict resolution handbook The Anatomy of Peace, because STALKER 2’s faction war-y story expansion Cost of Hope has a release date. It’s out on August 20th, developers GSC Game World have announced, and will launch in tandem with the long-awaited Update 2.0 – which, among other tweaks, will move the base game over to a newer, less technically perilous version of Unreal Engine 5.

Rock Paper Shotgun / James Archer

Update

Stalker 2's engine upgrade and first story expansion are due out in August

If you've been waiting, this is when you can stop waiting.

PC Gamer / Joshua Wolens

Release date

Stalker 2 studio founder's claims that Xbox paid more for exclusivity than the game cost to make "do not reflect the actual facts", according to GSC Game World

Stalker 2 studio GSC Game World have refuted claims from their original founder Sergiy Grygorovych, who left GSC in 2023, that Xbox paid more than the game cost to make as part of an exclusivity deal for it.

Rock Paper Shotgun / Mark Warren

Business

[UPDATE] Stalker 2 Dev Hits Out at Founder's Comments on Xbox Exclusivity, Insist He Doesn't Know What He's Talking About

The founder of Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World has said the game turned a profit before it even came out thanks to the money Microsoft paid for Xbox exclusivity.

IGN / Wesley Yin-Poole

Business

Xbox Paid More Than It Cost to Make STALKER 2 to Keep It Off PS5 for a Year

Money stalks. An interesting detail has emerged about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl and its timed-exclusive launch on Xbox. Sergiy Grygorovych, founder of developer GSC Game World, spoke about how that deal came to be in a recent video interview. Read the full article on pushsquare.com

Push Square

Business

Free Content for All STALKER 2 PS5 Players in Newest Update

Venture into the X-Labs today. With its first major expansion scheduled for the Summer season, studio GSC Game World is getting STALKER 2 owners on PS5 back in the game from today with a free content drop. This PS5 update adds a new activity to the game centred around exploring the X-Lab. It's story-focused content, and the setup is as follows: "Deep beneath the Zone, places like X-Labs remain sealed behind massive doors or buried under the consequences of failed 'research'. Rumors are now sprea

Push Square

Update

Stalker 2 just got a free pre-DLC to gird you for its first actual DLC

Sealed Truth is now unsealed.

PC Gamer / Joshua Wolens

Update

STALKER 2: Cost of Hope expansion announced for Summer 2026

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope is the first major expansion revealed for Heart of Chornobyl and it's set to arrive this Summer. Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.

GamingOnLinux / Liam Dawe

Announcement

Stalker 2’s first expansion officially revealed, and it's taking us to the power plant where it all began

One of the biggest reveals out of today’s Xbox Partner Preview showcase has been the new Stalker 2 expansion. The developer did tease some sort of announcement ahead of the event, but I don’t think an expansion was on many of our bingo cards.

VG247 / Sherif Saed

Announcement

Stalker 2 Cost of Hope expansion announced during Xbox Partner Preview, and it's taking you to the Chornobyl nuclear power plant

GSC Game World has announced new DLC for Stalker 2 at today's Xbox Partner Showcase. Titled Cost of Hope, it's a full expansion to the first person shooter set to release Summer 2026.

Eurogamer / Connor Makar

Announcement

Stalker 2's first major story expansion is coming this summer with two new regions and 'dozens of hours of gameplay'

The "fragile peace" between two of the Zone's biggest factions may finally be over.

PC Gamer / Andy Chalk

Announcement