Here's what to expect from the first patch for Stalker 2

Screenshot from Stalker 2. A view over a swamp and water treatment facility. — (Image credit: GSC Game World)

GSC Game World posted a message today thanking everyone for buying Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and also letting us know what we can expect from the patch that will release "during the week to come."

The first patch will address mostly major crashes and game-breaking progression stops that keep people from continuing the game as it is now. Though there are certainly other requested changes, like to the value of weapons with upgrades installed and the behavior of NPCs while seeking shelter during Emission events, alongside some graphics and user interface fixes.

Despite bugs, Stalker 2 has been a pretty big success, selling over 1 million copies with even more players joining in from Game Pass. I can't imagine how long it took for the first game—Shadow of Chernobyl—to sell a million copies, but it certainly wasn't "pretty much overnight."

Crash Fixes, including:
- Issues and memory allocation failures, which previously caused the game to exit unexpectedly, particularly around rendering, skeletal meshes, and quest-related cutscenes.
Main Quest Progression Fixes, including:
- Several bugs blocking the main quest progression, NPCs getting stuck in objects, incorrect quest markers, and issues with quest cutscenes.
- Revision of the main quests (like Visions of Truth or A Minor Incident) to ensure smooth transitions, avoiding rare cases of players not being able to proceed further.
Gameplay & Balance Adjustments, including:
- Fixing the price of the weapons with upgrades installed compared to their value without attachments.
- NPCs behavior, including the way they act when lacking a shelter during the Emissions.
Cutscenes & Visual Fixes, including:
- Rarely missing facial animations, misplaced NPCs, and visual inconsistencies like detached heads and clothes clipping.
- Quality and stability improvements of the visual effects.
Softlock Fixes, including:
- Issue where players were unable to close the trade screen after putting ammo in a wrong slot while playing on a gamepad.
User Interface Improvements, including:
- Quest notifications now showed correctly during dialogues.
- Corrected texts and missing interaction prompts.
Noted to be addressed in future updates:
- Analogue sticks dead zones bugfixes.
- A-Life system bugfixes.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.