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."
The major bugs people will likely be disappointed to learn are in the "to be addressed in future updates" category are bugfixes to the signature A-Life system. The game system that tracks and controls what people and animals are doing in The Zone while you're not around has been wonky since launch, and there are some very strange NPC-spawning behaviors in videos shared on social media.
GSC has confirmed that the A-Life system is in Stalker 2, but it has also confirmed that, yes, it has some issues to be fixed.
"There are several known issues with A-life 2.0 system that we are aware of and are working on fixes/improvements," GSC Game World community manager Mol1t wrote to the Stalker Discord. "We know that this system is very important to the Zone having an immersive atmosphere, and we will do our best to fix the known issues."
"We want to reassure you once more that we will make every effort to constantly improve your S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl experience. We are truly grateful for your feedback and suggestions for improvement," said GSC as part of its upcoming changes post.
Here's the list of changes that GSC Game World has confirmed are coming in the update:
