Stalker 2 Roadmap 2025 Confirms Unreal Engine 5.5.4 Upgrade and PS5 Release

GSC Game World has published the roadmap for the second half of 2025 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, detailing updates for the base game and for the Zone Kit Modifications Tool. The plan confirms the previously announced launch of the game on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro at the end of 2025 and sets a primary development goal of upgrading the game from Unreal Engine 5.1 to Unreal Engine 5.5.4.

According to GSC Game World, “Our main mission in the near future is upgrading the game to Unreal Engine 5.5.4. This will bring new features and tools to make the Zone an even better place, but more importantly — bringing the latest Unreal Engine 5 optimizations will lead to better stability and performance.” The studio stated that the upgrade could “shake up the timing of other updates” but added, “We’re taking this risk — like true stalkers would — and will do our best to hit our 2025 goals.”

Unreal Engine 5.5.4 was released in March 2025 and is not the most recent version of the engine. Unreal Engine 5.6 is newer, but it remains a current build. The update is intended to improve game stability and performance.

The roadmap lists a range of additions: new types of night vision gear, binoculars, and several enhancements to the A-Life system. These include technical refinements, adjustments so non-player characters have reduced vision in low light compared to now, revised NPC combat behavior, changes to mutant encounters and balancing, extra environmental anomalies, and missions involving both returning and new characters. 

There will also be a fresh weather scenario, a Master difficulty option, longer in-game day/night cycles, reworked loot for hidden stashes, updates to stamina and energy drink use, an immersive display mode, interface changes showing equipment protection values, broader UI improvements, local save backup recovery, and further bug-fixing and optimization.

Planned modding improvements involve advancing the Zone Kit from Phase 1 to Phase 2. This step will add audio modding via Wwise, new storytelling tools, better compatibility for mods affecting shared systems, and expanded blueprint modification capabilities. The roadmap also includes upcoming technical refinements to support modding, a Discord holiday event, and further work on Stalker Legends of the Zone Enhanced Edition.

In discussions on gaming forums, players have occasionally mentioned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in the context of general conversations about random loot mechanics found in many games. These discussions describe random item drops governed by in-game RNG, but there is no confirmation of monetized chance-based systems, loot boxes, or paid spins in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. 

GSC Game World reiterated thanks to players for feedback and support, stating, “Without your help, this wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you!” In addition to the roadmap, the current 1.5 patch for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl introduced various tweaks and fixes, as well as the release of the 700GB Stalker 2 Zone Kit.

The game was released in 2024 under development conditions affected by the war in Ukraine. Sales reached one million copies within the first month after launch.

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