Stalker 2 has been out for a few weeks now, and by the jam-packed nature of the game's first few patches, it's safe to say that the Xbox title has needed some post-launch improvements. Another option, of course, was to delay the initial release even further - but in a new interview with developer GSC Game World, the team has come out and said that such a move was basically impossible.
Talking to Eurogamer this week, GSC Game World's CEO touched on the long and arduous development timeline the team endured while making Stalker 2. The Ukrainian studio was "so tired" from creating this Stalker sequel that it "didn't have a chance to say let's do it more".
"It's very hard to explain your state when you're in a very intensive work process for many months until release, and you're working over, over, over what you usually can do and in the highest possible stress and overwhelming period,
You have no energy at all and you decide - should we take one more marathon? And you just can't say yes, let's make one more marathon, because you're already broken.
You're so tired that you would just die if you say let's run an additional marathon,"
Stalker 2's development troubles have been well-documented at this point - Xbox even created a feature-length documentary on the game as it was being made during Ukraine's war with Russia. It sounds like the team is glad to see the back of development anyway - and it's already committed to the future of the Xbox Game Pass title.