S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl now has a Q1 2024 release date time frame

We now have a new, and this time official, release date time frame for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. That's the good news. The bad news is that we will have to wait a bit longer to play this long-awaited first-person shooter sequel from developer GSC GameWorld.

While the developer's European physical copy publisher Plaion posted a recent listing of a December 1, 2023 release date for the game, the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 site has now updated its press kit area. That includes a PDF fact sheet on the game, which now lists a release date time frame for the first quarter of 2024 (via Wario64 on X).

While we may be a bit disappointed that it won't make a 2023 release date, it does mean that GSC GameWorld does have more time to give the game a final polish.

The game will be released on PC, and will also be a timed exclusive for Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S consoles. It will also be an Xbox Game Pass title when it launches.

Speaking of Xbox, Microsoft has posted its own impressions of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 demo that's at its booth this week as part of Gamescom 2023. Among other things, it describes the visuals of the game:

Along the way, GSC Game World makes clear the power of Unreal Engine 5, imbuing beauty to a distinctly nasty world – The Zone (the name given to this alternative Earth’s post-nuclear Chornobyl Exclusion Zone) is packed with detail: abandoned buildings cut through with low, wintry light; threadbare forests broken up by oily, shimmering bubbles of warped reality; and pockets of quiet humanity being scratched out in the wilderness.

Hopefully we will get a more precise release date in the near future.