GSC says STALKER 2 balance updates are in the cards for future patches

What you need to know

• GSC Game World’s open-world survival shooter STALKER 2 came out last week on Xbox and PC, and while the game has been very successful and well-liked so far, it’s not without issues.
• Chief among these are bugs with the AI simulation system A-Life 2.0, quests, and performance, but many players have also taken issue with aspects of STALKER 2’s gameplay balance.
• Specifically, the community feels that several mutant enemies are too tanky and have too much health, and also that the cost of repairing your gear is too high relative to the amount of money you can make. Some also dislike how short the day/night cycle is.
• GSC has stated in the official STALKER Discord server that it’s looking into ways to address these concerns in future updates, though patches will focus on bug fixes and performance improvements for now.

The long-awaited open-world survival shooter STALKER 2 finally arrived last week, with the Xbox and Windows PC exclusive scoring well with critics, soaring up the Steam charts, and selling over 1 million copies in just a few days. But while the title has undoubtedly had an incredibly successful launch, it hasn’t been without its problems.

Bugs with quests and the dynamic AI simulation system A-Life 2.0 not working properly as well as the lack of controller deadzones on Xbox and performance woes are amongst the biggest issues, but another part of STALKER 2 that players have a problem with is its overall gameplay balance. Specifically, many feel that several of its mutants are far too tanky and have too much health, and also that repairing broken weapons and armor is unreasonably expensive. The day/night cycle in The Zone is fairly short, too, which some don’t like since it’s hard to get things done in daylight hours before night falls.

STALKER 2’s first hotfix is scheduled to come this week, but it’s mainly going to include critical bug fixes for things like broken main story quest and widespread performance problems. Developer GSC Game World has now confirmed, however, that it’s looking into addressing issues that fans have with aspects of the gameplay experience.

“A-life is main one. Others are still in the discussions, can’t share exact details on what we are planning until we are 100% set on doing that. For example, some topics of discussions are mutant balance, day-night cycle, economy balance,” wrote the studio’s community manager, Mol1t, in the official STALKER Discord. “But since we have clearly bugged things, like A-life, optimization and quest issues, they have higher priority. In the meantime we are looking at feedback on some more complex by-design things and approach them cautiously without, you know, overreacting. Just so you know that we are aware of main suggestions from the community and not ignoring them.”