Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is receiving a major free update on December 16–one that adds new story content and even a new weapon to developer GSC Game World’s open-world shooter.
As detailed in a new PlayStation Blog post, the Stories Untold content update will see players head to the western part of the Chornobyl Anomalous Zone after picking up an emergency transmission. The new area will feature seven new locations, six new characters, and several hours of new content, GSC Game World said.
GSC Game World said players will want to pay “close attention” to the Red Forest region on the map, and from there use their intuition and rationality to see how deep this particular irradiated rabbit hole goes. Other points of interest in the Red Forest GSC Game World said will be worth players’ time are the Fairy Tale Pioneer Camp and the Old Mine.
Stalker 2 already sports over 30 weapons, but players will get one more to play with come the update in the form of the GP37V2 rifle, a weapon tailored for “tactically proficient players.” The weapon isn’t full auto, but can be fired in bursts or in single shots and comes pre-equipped with a suppressor and low-magnification scope.
“The cost of failure is higher, but in the hands of a skilled operator, the GP37V2 can reward you with its precision and power,” GSC Game World said.
Other additions in the update include a new hub in the Burnt Forest area where players will find NPCs and be able to stash items. Existing locations will now be re-inhabited with other Stalkers as well.
Earlier this year, GameSpot traveled to GSC Game World’s new office in Prague to talk to the Ukrainian development team about Stalker 2’s harrowing development admist Russia’s invasion of their country and how an office fire threw another wrench into its plans.
Stalker 2 sold 1 million copies shortly after launch in November 2024 despite also launching as a day-one Game Pass title, and went on to become on of GameSpot’s 10 best games of 2024. In the months following its release, GSC Game World worked to address bugs and implement other changes, with an update in March bringing more than 1,200 changes that touched nearly every aspect of the game, from combat to performance. It launched for PS5 on November 20, 2025, optimized for PS5 Pro.
