Stalker 2 off to a strong start on Steam, despite technical issues

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl released yesterday, and has since seen a strong number of players jumping into The Zone over on Steam.

At the time of writing, its all-time player peak on Valve’s platform is 113,587. Meanwhile, it has 71,497 players making their way through the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone at this very moment in time.

These numbers are perhaps not too surprising, given Stalker 2 was one of Steam’s most wishlisted titles up until its debut. However, even with a strong wishlist, reviews of the game have pointed out that it has been released with a number of glaring technical issues. These issues are one of the reasons Eurogamer’s own Stalker 2 review isn’t on the site just yet.

Yesterday, the Stalker 2 team addressed these issues and acknowledged the game “may” have some “rough edges” now that it is out. The studio has assured its players it will address any niggles that arise in the game, as and when it is able.

Many users have been forgiving of these issues, however, given the road developer GSC has had to take to get Stalker 2 released at all. Since 2022, GSC has delayed Stalker 2 several times due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This has seen the studio relocate staff to safely finish the project elsewhere, while others joined Ukraine’s armed forces, and dealt with Russian hackers who leaked test builds.

Stalker 2 currency sits with a ‘Very Positive’ review average on Steam. “Stalker 2 is nothing short of a miracle,” reads one user review.

For more, the studio recently released a documentary all about developing Stalker 2 during a particularly difficult time for GSC, known as War Game: The Making of Stalker 2.