Developer GSC Game World said that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s first patch will respond directly to player feedback.
In an update posted to Steam this weekend, the studio said it has identified a number of issues and listed its priorities.
Memory allocation errors – “which previously caused the game to quit unexpectedly, particularly around rendering, skeletal meshes and quest cutscenes” – top the list, followed by issues with main mission progression, including NPCs getting stuck in objects, incorrect quest markers, and issues with quest cutscenes. Key missions such as Visions of Truth or A Minor Incident will be revised “to ensure smooth transitions and avoid rare cases where players are unable to proceed.”
Here’s everything else planned for a fix in the first upcoming patch:
Gameplay and balance adjustments including:
- Determining the price of the weapons with upgrades installed compared to their value without attachments.
- The behavior of NPCs, including how they behave when they have no shelter during the emissions.
Cutscenes and visual improvements including:
- Rarely missing facial animations, misplaced NPCs, and visual inconsistencies like loose heads and clothing clipping.
- Quality and stability improvements to the visual effects.
Softlock solutions including:
- Fixed an issue where players were unable to close the trading screen after placing ammo in the wrong slot while playing on a gamepad.
User interface improvements including:
- Quest notifications are now displayed correctly during dialogues.
- Corrected texts and missing interaction instructions.
Please note that this should be addressed in future updates:
- Analog sticks dead zones bug fixes.
- Bug fixes in the A-Life system.
Right now there’s no word on when the patch will go live, but GSC Game World hinted that it’s coming to both PC and Xbox Series X/S “in the next week.”
“The game has been out for several days now (it’s still surreal to say) and we’ve been carefully monitoring your feedback in all forms,” the team said. “To the over one million stalkers in the Zone, thank you for playing – it means the world to us.”
“Full of anomalies in more ways than one, Stalker 2 is a mess of bugs and whine that nevertheless remains faithful to the open world survival shooter of old,” reads Eurogamer’s Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl review.