The earliest playable build of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, still awaiting its official release, surfaced on the internet with practical instructions for getting the game to run on PC. The leak appeared within a VKontakte group known as the Newsletter of the same Stalker.
The authors of the leak claim the build is essentially playable, featuring saved games, cutscenes, a sizable mission set, and other content one would expect from a nearly finished product. In addition to the game files, the same Stalker bulletin group shared a link to a large archive, reportedly about 194 GB in size. The launch guide advised placing the downloaded files inside the Windows directory to begin the game.
STALKER 2 was originally slated for a release in early 2024, described as a PC title with a subsequent Xbox Series X and S version alongside PC. The intent was to bring the experience to both computer and console audiences, with attention to performance across platforms.
At Gamescom 2023 in Germany, the development team from GSC Game World demonstrated a working version to journalists. The feedback highlighted STALKER 2 as an intense, immersive journey, though some testers noted ongoing technical rough edges at that point in development.
Earlier, a trailer for GTA 6 briefly appeared on Rockstar Games’ official site, an event observers noted during the same window of time.