Following its ever so brief public fling with NFTs, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl has been delayed from its April 28 release date all the way to December 8.
Announced by developer GSC Game World on Twitter, the game’s seven-month delay is “needed to fulfill our vision and achieve the desired state of the game. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the biggest project in the history of GSC, and it requires thorough testing and polishing.”
— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) January 12, 2022
While S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2‘s delay came out of nowhere this morning, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. While the game has received multiple trailers over the course of the last two years, including a scripted gameplay trailer this past June, raw gameplay has been kept completely under wraps. In its post announcing that the game was delayed, GSC Game World also promised that “more information, updates, and showcases” for the game are coming.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s delay comes just a month after the game drew broad criticism for planning to integrate NFTs. GSC Game World planned to let players spend cryptocurrency on unique items, and even scan themselves into the game as an NPC. The developer’s plans were met with swift, harsh backlash, prompting the developer to ditch them altogether, although the mastermind behind that plan still thinks NFTs in video games are viable.
With its delay, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is one of this year’s first major delays to its second half. Volition’s Saints Row reboot was similarly delayed in November. The game was originally going to launch on February 25 but is currently slated to launch on August 23.
