Stalker 2 is not published by Microsoft, but the company has still been "very supportive" of its developers: "It would have been very different without them"

After several delays, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is set to take us back to the Exclusion Zone in November, and according to GSC Game World’s PR manager, Microsoft has been very supportive of the team throughout the development of the first-person shooter.

The team at Ukrainian developer GSC Game World faced incredibly challenging working conditions while producing Stalker 2, with the war in Ukraine forcing the developers to pause production in 2022 and relocate to Prague. It’s understandable that the game’s release has been delayed, and according to PR manager Zakhar Bocharov, Microsoft itself has been considerate in this regard. The Xbox owner isn’t publishing Stalker 2 – GSC Game World is doing that itself – but the two have a deal to put the upcoming FPS title on Game Pass on launch day.

In a interview with TheGamer at Gamescom 2024Bocharov says the company has not only been supportive by not imposing “demands” on Stalker 2’s release date, but has also “helped in situations” where it wasn’t strictly necessary. He reveals: “Microsoft does not make any demands in terms of release date or content.”

Expanding on this, Bocharov adds that he personally “never expected a corporation of this size to be so supportive.” He adds: “I can’t tell you the exact cases, but they helped in situations where they shouldn’t have exactly. So they could easily[have said]‘No, this is not our thing. This is yours. Good luck. Figure it out.’”

The PR manager goes on to note that Xbox boss Phil Spencer has personally been “very supportive and thoughtful” of developers, and reiterates the unexpectedness of the corporation being so “close to developers who are in a bad situation.” He concludes, “That’s the professional connection that we value very much, because it would have been very different without them.”

While we’ll never know what Stalker 2 might have looked like without Microsoft’s support, I hope the final version lives up to fans’ expectations on November 20. I had a chance to play it the first 30 minutes of the game at Gamescomand even though it took a beating more times than I’d like to admit, it looked and performed great, leaving me optimistic for its release.

We’ll have to wait and see if Stalker 2 ends up being one of those best FPS games.

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