“Something to look forward to”
It’s been a busy year for the team at GSC Game World, with Stalker 2 not only receiving a whole bunch of updates and patches over the past twelve months, but also getting released on PS5 in November.
Looking ahead to 2026, they’ve just shared a special New Year’s Message hinting at what’s to come, including a “major upgrade to a newer version of Unreal Engine 5 to make the zone even more stable and gorgeous”.
This was first mentioned back in August as a 2025 feature, but it ended up getting delayed.
The video up above may give us a first glimpse at this Unreal Engine 5 upgrade, although it doesn’t specifically state as such. It might just be a sneak peek at Stalker 2’s first story DLC, which is said to be “coming along nicely” — it seems the CNPP (Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant) could be added as part of this DLC, or perhaps just as a free update instead.
Of course, Stalker 2 is no longer part of Xbox Game Pass since November, but you can still pick it up as part of the Xbox Countdown Sale 2025 right now — multiple versions are discounted by 40% on the Xbox Store until January 7th.
We’ll leave the full New Year’s Message from the Stalker 2 team down below:
Are you still playing Stalker 2 on Xbox Series X or S? Tell us in the comments section.
Fraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he spends his time reporting on the biggest stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.
