Fans of GSC Game World's open-world survival horror FPS series STALKER were finally treated to a proper modern sequel late last year with the release of the highly anticipated and long-awaited STALKER 2. Now, several months later, the developer is about to launch remastered versions of the original trilogy of STALKER games on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam, Epic Games, and GOG), and PS5.
We've known these remasters were coming since last year, but not when they'd actually drop; the surprise announcement of their scheduled release came on Wednesday morning, with GSC sharing a new trailer and a detailed FAQ page. You can watch the former through this link or with the embed below.
These updated versions of 2007's STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, 2008's STALKER: Clear Sky, and 2010's STALKER: Call of Pripyat — available both individually and in a STALKER: Legends of the Zone Enhanced Edition bundle — are coming out on May 20, 2025. The remasters overhaul the games with "new shaders, lighting, textures, gamepad support, Steam Deck [support], Steam Workshop [support], and more."
According to the official FAQ, nothing gameplay-related has been changed in these modern rereleases, and there's no new in-game content being added to The Zone, either. GSC says "those stories are legendary the way they are" and doesn't want to stray from being faithful to the original experience. Bugs that were present in the older versions have been squashed in these new ones, though.
With all of that said, fans can still expect some major improvements to the original STALKER user interface (UI) and heads-up display (HUD) in addition to the visual overhaul, though "the legacy style of the original games" is being preserved. "Some improvements" have been made to audio as well — the studio notes the core of STALKER's music and sound hasn't changed — and the controls have been given a modern revamp, also. I expect the PC version will include the controller-specific radial menu and control scheme the console ports of STALKER got when they released early last year.
Notably, some great news for longtime STALKER fans like me is that if you already own one or several of the classic titles (or the 2024 console ports), you'll get copies of the remasters for the games you have for free. On top of that, new players that jump into the series for the first time with the remasters will get free copies of the older versions, too, allowing you to experience them as they were originally if desired.
The price of the STALKER: Legends of the Zone Enhanced Edition hasn't been announced yet, but the bundle of all three games is likely $40, and each one purchased individually is expected to be $20. This is the MSRP of the original bundle and games, and also the cost of last year's Legends of the Zone release on console.
Welcome remasters for the aging STALKER games
These updated versions of the original STALKER games have come at a great time, as many who have recently played through last year's STALKER 2 are no doubt interested in checking out the trilogy that came before it. On top of that, all three of the titles on PC in particular are fairly buggy, and can sometimes even feel unplayable in the case of Clear Sky; with extensive bugfixes promised in the remasters, that's hopefully something players won't have to deal with anymore.
Indeed, I'm looking forward to revisiting these cult classics once the remastered editions are out, as they'll be a fun "vanilla plus" alternative to the extensively modded experiences like Radiophobia 3 and STALKER Anomaly that I typically boot up when I get the itch to explore The Zone. The fact they'll also have Steam Workshop support is a huge boon for modding, and I'm excited to see what STALKER's passionate modding community puts out.
Of course, if you'd prefer your first STALKER experience to be as modern as possible, I strongly encourage you to play STALKER 2. It's one of the best Xbox games and best PC games to play if you're after a tense open-world FPS experience, and is just $37.49 at CDKeys right now (it's usually a full $60). Alternatively, you can check it out with Xbox Game Pass.
