Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobylhas been announced for PlayStation 5, signalling the end of the game’s timed Xbox Series X/S exclusivity.
It’s rare to see a timed console exclusive not tied to a first-party developer, given Sony and Microsoft’s penchant for acquiring every major independent studio under the sun. Final Fantasy 16 is an example of a non-first-party timed exclusive on PlayStation 5, while Stalker 2 satisfies the same criteria for Xbox.
Given that Xbox is beginning to port its first-party games over to PlayStation 5, Stalker 2 could be one of Microsoft’s last-ever timed exclusives.
The Zone Awaits
The port will be released in “late 2025” for the PlayStation 5. If we assume the Xbox Series X/S exclusivity period was one year, then Stalker 2 will likely release sometime around the end of November.
The trailer is a humorous one, depicting in-game characters playing Stalker 2 with full animations and voice acting. Unfortunately, playing a post-apocalyptic shooter during the post-apocalypse probably isn’t the escapism these soldiers need.
“Developer GSC Game World has announced that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl will be released on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro in late 2025,” the announcement trailer’s description reads. “The team says the PS5 version ‘will fully utilise DualSense controller features, including haptic feedback and adaptive triggers for deeper player immersion’. Further technical enhancements for the PS5 Pro are also in development.”
Stalker 2’s development cycle was extraordinary, as the game survived GSC Game World’s lengthy dormancy, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to finally release last November.
At release, Stalker 2 received a mixed critical response. Given that the original is famous for both its merits and its flaws, this didn’t come as a surprise. The game currently holdsa 74 average critic score on OpenCritic.
Our own Branden Lizardi called it a “perfectly average open-world survival shooter” in his3/5 review, saying the game was for those who enjoyed the original, or fans of post-apocalyptic shooters like Fallout.
