Paired alongside the launch of its PlayStation 5 version, GSC Game World releases Update 1.7 for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, which fixes a host of issues and makes tons of quality of life improvements. It’s a big day for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl fans as the experience has now finally arrived on the PlayStation 5, opening the gate for a new wave of players.
After a tumultuous development cycle, one that included multiple delays, a financial crisis at the studio, and even a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia back in 2022. The developer was able to not only overcome all of these difficult situations, but find major success as well. STALKER 2 achieved huge sales milestones, while also finding a massive audience of players as well. What may be more impressive is all of this was done through Xbox and PC, and with the PS5 console now part of this ecosystem, the studio could be finding itself in front of another wave of success.
All Unique Weapons In Stalker 2 (& Locations)
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl has several weapons for players to use, but some of them are special and a cut above the rest.
Update 1.7 is a major new update for STALKER 2, fixes over 90 crashes, further optimizes the game, and adds in a host of quality of life improvements. Specifically, GSC highlighted some of the bigger features, including improved enemy AI which sees different factions fighting over territory, opening up new tactical opportunities for players. Stealth has also been improved thanks to foliage and vegetation hiding players better.
In terms of game improvements, the UI and inventory system have been reworked, including a new radiation bar, 5 quality tiers for artifacts and consumables, as well as a completely redesigned interface. There’s a new Master difficulty level for the ultimate challenge that also disables manual saves, autosaves, and uses a checkpoint system only when leaving hubs or during major story moments. It’s worth noting that GSC does warn that this patch could disrupt the use of mods in STALKER 2, with the studio recommending disabling them if performance issues arise.
However, where this patch becomes more important is for the new PlayStation 5 version of STALKER 2. Following the expiration of its year of exclusivity on the Xbox platform, PlayStation 5 players now have access to the game, and reports indicate that this version of the game greatly benefits from Update 1.7. Without it, players have been reporting a variety of technical problems that seem to heavily impact the experience. Update 1.7 also serves as a Day One patch for the PS5 version, fixing a long list of potential crashes, bugged elements, and just stabilizing the game overall.
With a new platform now added, it’s clear that the future is bright for STALKER 2. As GSC confirms in a recent letter to the community, STALKER 2 is in a much better place now than it was a year ago thanks to a ton of updates, optimizations, and fixes that have come to the game. While the studio confirms that all future updates and content will arrive across each platform at the same time, it also highlighted some of the unique features of the PS5 version of STALKER 2, including haptic feedback, gyro aiming, as well as global illumination and weather effects for PS5 Pro users.
