Almost half a year after release, the developers are releasing an update plan for 2025. We summarize the most exciting announcements.
It’s finally here: the roadmap for Stalker 2. Since its release in November 2024, developer GSC Game World has been working non-stop on the shooter, releasing one patch after another. The latest update 1.3.1 prompted us to take another look at Stalker 2 and give the shooter its first upgrade:
This is yet to come in Q2 2025
According to their own statements, the developers used the first quarter of 2025 to address the most serious bugs, errors and problems. The upcoming updates will now focus more on content changes. These include:
Stalkers!
Since launch, we’ve been digging into your feedback and aligning it with our own plans and vision for improving and enhancing the gameplay experience. Q1 was all about tackling the big issues — two major updates and multiple hotfixes rolled out, building on last… pic.twitter.com/NrL4yG0ucc
— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) April 14, 2025
- Modding: Fan mods will find their way into the shooter. To this end, GSC wants to start a closed beta to test the functionality of the mod SDK kit. An integration of the Steam Workshop is also planned.
- A-Life/AI: The developers have not yet been able to implement their vision of A-Life 2.0, an AI that gives players the feeling of a living world. Further improvements are to follow. For example, human NPCs should behave more cleverly in combat situations and flank or seek cover more. But the mutants should also react more strongly to threats and… eat corpses. Yikes.
- Mutant Loot: So far, only human opponents could be looted. Fans of the old games in particular miss the mutant flesh from the predecessors. This should follow soon and could make the loot system and economy of Stalker 2 even more exciting.
- Skipping the shader compilation: We have only one thing to say about this: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Currently, Stalker 2 reloads the shaders every time you start the game, which can be quite annoying for impatient people (guilty!), especially if you also have to deal with regular crashes.
- More widescreen support: In the future, you should be able to play Stalker 2 in WQHD without black bars in cutscenes. Presumably, the FOV will also be adjusted.
- Furthermore:
- The stash chest window will be bigger
- Two new weapons will be added
- Further fixes for bugs, performance and other “anomalies”
- The original trilogy will get a next-gen update.
GSC Game World has not yet announced an exact release date for the update, but it should happen before the end of the second quarter of 2025. So we should expect the next major update by July.
Of course, we will continue to keep an eye on the shooter for you and will also keep you updated as soon as new updates are released. Incidentally, new side quests are not included in the roadmap, but have already been teased by the developers.
At the latest then, we will take another look at Stalker 2 for a re-test. Until then, feel free to tell us in the comments how the shooter is currently doing for you.
