Further details about STALKER 2 unveiled in Russian podcast: advanced A-Life AI, Xbox Mod support, and more

GSC Game World's PR Manager Zakhar Bocharov recently shared insights about STALKER 2 during an episode of the Russian podcast "Not Brought In." Bocharov touched on a number of interesting new details about the game. He explained the reason why GSC decided to use Unreal Engine 4: their in-house X-Ray engine, which had powered previous titles in the STALKER franchise, was simply too outdated a decade later. GSC had apparently trialed out other engines before settling on UE4. 

STALKER fans are used to a launch experience that makes Bethesda games feel positively polished: Shadow of Chernobyl, for instance, launched with a number of game-breaking bugs that took months to iron out. During the interview, Bocharov reassured long-time series fans that STALKER 2 will be a more stable experience at launch. A lot of those bugs had to do with the games' "A-Life" AI system. Bocharov claimed that this time around, A-Life will be significantly more detailed, with enemy NPCs and wildlife fighting with each other as well, not just the player. 

STALKER 2 will be the first game in the franchise to launch on consoles, albeit limited to the Xbox Series X and S. Modding's always been a key aspect of the STALKER experience, and Bocharov hinted that GSC was exploring ways of bringing STALKER 2 mods to the Xbox Series X/S version, great news for fans of gameplay overhauls like MISERY.