News, reviews, articles on the topic S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
A free engine upgrade and a paid story expansion land simultaneously on August 20, promising the Zone atmosphere fans have been waiting for.
The first paid expansion hits 85 on Metacritic versus the base game's 77, restoring faction warfare and turning the Zone back into a place of genuine dread.
The fifth annual Ukrainian Games Festival runs August 17–24 on Steam, closing on Ukraine's Independence Day, with record discounts and 170 free demos.
GSC Game World upgrades the game from Unreal Engine 5.1 to 5.5.4 at no cost, adding new weapons, A-Life 2.0 improvements, and functional binoculars alongside the paid Cost of Hope DLC.
GSC Game World confirms a simultaneous PS5 release for the first major story expansion, which unlocks Chornobyl's reactor and the Iron Forest.
Cost of Hope opens up the Chornobyl reactor and Iron Forest, two areas locked off in the base game — and it lands on all platforms at once.
GSC Game World founder Sergiy Grygorovych revealed the deal covered development costs and then some — and was signed within a week of the first trailer dropping.
GSC's first story expansion arrives summer 2026 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5 simultaneously — dropping the Xbox exclusivity of the base game.
Two locked-off regions return, factions go to war, and PS5 players finally get day-one access alongside Xbox and PC.
The developers made some important changes and added atmospheric loading screens
The update will be released in April and will add more horror elements to the game
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Iron Forest will reopen for stalkers
More details will appear on March 26
GSC Game World is preparing exciting content for fans of the Ukrainian shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
This is a great opportunity to explore the library of cool Ukrainian games
