The long road leading to the release of developer GSC Game World’s  S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is finally over. What began way back in 2010 is finally now available on PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store and GOG.com, as well as the Xbox Series and Xbox Game Pass.

“It feels utterly surreal to say that, but after more than 7 years in the making, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is now released. That’s totally wild. So was the whole development story,” says Ievgen Grygorovych, GSC Game World CEO and Game Director. “What started as the most ambitious game by GSC eventually turned out to be an ultimate personal challenge. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was always supposed to be a truly Ukrainian product, showing our culture to the world in the ongoing effort of the nation to be recognized. All the time, effort and passion we put into this is about to be witnessed by the players from all around the globe.”

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series takes place in a fictional Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. The nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Power Plant in 1986 wasn’t the only one to occur, as the second explosion hit the reactor in 2006, creating the Zone. It’s a dangerous place, filled with mutated creatures, deadly radiation, and a strange, anomalous energy. Bounty hunters delve deep into the Zone, driven by its treasures and mysteries. Some of them are running from their past, others are blinded by money, and some are obsessed with finding the truth behind all the mysteries.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl puts you in the boots of Skif – a lone stalker, who enters the Zone after a series of unforeseen events. On the way to the Heart of Chornobyl, you will gradually uncover the secrets of this world, explore the balance of power between factions, fight, and survive. In this non-linear story, every choice you make will impact the outcome of this global and epic tale, featuring three hours of scripted cutscenes.