Stalker 2 release date and launch times

On November 20, 2024By Littum

It’s finally time for gamers to get their hands on Stalker 2 after GSC Game World delayed it once back in January 2024 to deal with some technical issues and then again in July 2024 to give the developers time to fix some “unexpected anomalies “.

Stalker 2 is a direct sequel to the 2007 game Stalker: Shadow of Chornobyl and will therefore include locations from the original that have been updated and renovated, as well as some new locations to explore.

What is the release date for Stalker 2?

Stalker 2 will be released on November 20, 2024, for most locations, both as a standalone PC release and on Game Pass. As for pre-orders, you can buy the standard game for $60 / £50, the Deluxe Edition for $80 / £66 and the Ultimate Edition for $110 / £90.

With the Deluxe Edition, players will have access to bonus weapons such as the PTM pistol “Monolith”, the Integral-A SMG “Riemann” and the Lavina SA assault rifle “Gabion”, which are only available for the single player campaign. Then there is the AR416 “Monolith”, the M701 sniper rifle “Hunter” and the M860 shotgun “Monolith”, which can also be transferred to multiplayer. There are also three costumes, a bonus side quest, and an official art book and soundtrack set.

For the Ultimate Edition, players will get all the bonuses of the Deluxe Edition plus four more weapons, a new suit and a season pass that will provide two more expansions and any future DLCs. But just because you can pre-order Stalker 2 doesn’t mean there’s an early access period – everyone will get to play it at the same time, more or less.

Stalker 2 release times

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker 2 releases on November 20th for almost all regions accepting for the few who get the game on November 21st instead. See the full list of times below to find out when it will unlock for you:

20 November

Pacific Standard Time: 8 am (Seattle)
Eastern Standard Time: 11 (New York)
Brasilia Time: 13.00 (São Paulo)
Greenwich Mean Time: 16:00 (London)
Central European time: 17.00 (Prague)
Eastern European Time: 18.00 (Kiev)

21 November

China Standard Time: 12 (Beijing)
Japan Standard Time: 1 (Tokyo)
Australian Eastern Daylight Time: 3 am (Sydney)
New Zealand Daylight Time: 5 am (Auckland)

Is there a stalker 2 preload?

While preloads are increasingly common for new games with a massive download, PC players of Stalker 2 will unfortunately not be able to reap the benefits of this. Despite having a daunting download size of 160GB, officially Stalker 2 discord confirmed that “PC stores won’t have a preload.” So I guess it’s every man for himself on release day – I can’t wait to join the fun when the percentage bar is finally done in two weeks.

The game system requirements also confirmed that players should install Stalker 2 on solid-state drives (SSDs), as older hard drives (HDDs) may take too long to load the textures and other assets. But at least you have a few days to figure out which games are getting the boot so you can make room for Stalker 2.