Both Xbox maker Microsoft and PlayStation publisher Sony have a wide array of games exclusive to their consoles (PC releases aside), but not every exclusive is permanent, or even developed first-party by a studio the companies own. These third-party timed exclusives tend to eventually make their way to the platform directly competing with their original one as a result, and on Wednesday, it was announced that this is happening with STALKER 2 coming to PS5 later this year.
Though developer GSC Game World created the highly anticipated open-world survival shooter sequel with help from Xbox and Microsoft, it's not owned by it, and thus became free to publish the game on PlayStation after a timed exclusivity period ended. Now that it has, the studio plans to port STALKER 2 to PS5 in "late 2025."
The news came in what has to be one of the coolest game trailers I've ever seen (you can also watch it below). In the minute-long video, Colonel Korshunov — a major character that appears throughout the game's story — is seen playing STALKER 2 through the eyes of a soldier that comes up to speak with him. "This better be important; I'm on a serious mission," he says, shooting up a squad of bandits as the soldier tries to tell him his men are being zombified.
Eventually, Korshunov gets up and storms off to deal with that, and in a hilarious twist, the soldier sits down and starts playing himself, muttering "I thought he'd never leave." And when he picks up the controller the colonel was using, it's revealed to be a PlayStation DualShock gamepad. The Zone said it's my turn on the PlayStation.
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It's an incredibly silly trailer, but it's also a pretty neat one, too — especially since it's an in-engine cutscene GSC loaded STALKER 2 gameplay footage into. And while it's not the first creative and unorthodox teaser the developer's made before, it's definitely my favorite.
STALKER 2 itself was one of the biggest games of 2024, and a huge release for both Xbox itself and Microsoft's all-you-can-eat subscription service Xbox Game Pass. It launched onto the latter day one, and can be played through the program on Xbox Series X|S consoles, PC via the Xbox app (PC Game Pass), or both along with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Xbox Game Pass Ultimate). It's also available to directly buy on Xbox, the Xbox PC app, Steam, the Epic Games Store, and GOG.
At launch, I wrote that "The Zone captivates me like no other open world can" in my review, praising its "palpable atmosphere and deeply rewarding exploration that kept me glued to my seat along with addictively intense and dynamic action that kept me on the edge of it."
Indeed, it's an excellent sequel to the late-2000s STALKER trilogy (now on consoles!) I fell in love with long ago, and it's only gotten better with time as the developers have improved it with consistent and meaty updates. The latest Patch 1.5 update, for example, brought some big AI enhancements that make NPCs and mutants in the open world more dynamic and immersive to interact with. Notably, two paid DLC expansions and a multiplayer mode are coming to the game at some point as well.
Ultimately, this is definitely one for PS5 players to get excited about, and I recommend wishlisting the game on the PlayStation Store so you get notified when it releases (fans are encouraged to "stay tuned for signals from the Zone" on social media for release date info as well). Notably, its store listing confirms it will have PS5 Pro enhancements, so you can look forward to those if you own that premium console.
Don't want to wait for the PS5 launch and have an Xbox or PC to use? Aside from using Game Pass to play STALKER 2, you can also take advantage of some stellar Amazon Prime Day deals on the game right now. One brings a physical Xbox edition down from $60 to just $23.40 at Amazon, while the other lowers the price of a digital Steam copy to only $34.69 at CDKeys.
And hey, if you're an Xbox fan and you're sad about losing an exclusive shooter? Don't be. You're getting Helldivers 2 on Xbox next month, after all.
