Stalker 2 gets its first gameplay trailer and a 2022 release date

Microsoft dedicated a decent portion of its Xbox E3 showcase to Stalker 2, revealing the first gameplay footage of the highly anticipated post-apocalyptic adventure.

Coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on 28 April 2022, the title will be free to play for Game Pass subscribers and now has an evocative subtitle: Heart of Chernobyl.

In the trailer below, you’ll see some atmospheric subtitled campfire chat to set the scene, before we get a good look at a more action packed segment where the guns do the talking. Things then quiet down again for a quick tour of a dilapidated workshop, but whether you’re looking at detailed environments or creepy monsters, it’s clearly a stunning looking game that’s going to get the most out of next-generation hardware.

It’s been a long wait for fans of the Stalker franchise, with the last release – Call of Pripyat – appearing on PC back in 2010, when a top-of-the-range PC would come complete with a £400 Nvidia GTX 580. Interestingly, Stalker 2 was originally announced shortly after this, before being cancelled and then revived many years later.

Suffice it to say, earlier games in the series look a little dated by today’s standards, but they still make for a tense role playing experience where keeping on top of supplies and maintaining weapons is paramount to success in a bleak and unforgiving world. 

While the game was premiered during the Xbox showcase and will be coming to Game Pass, it’s worth noting that the phrasing indicates that this won’t be exclusive to PC and Xbox forever. It’s merely labelled as “coming first” to Xbox, and an internal document from last year suggested that this period of exclusivity would last three months. If that’s still accurate, then it would suggest a July launch of PlayStation 5.