In the midst of last week’s Xbox Games Showcase by Microsoft, the long-anticipatedSTALKER 2made an appearance alongside other marquee games at the event such asHalo Infiniteand the upcomingFablereboot. As the sequel to the cult classicSTALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl,STALKER 2willbring players back to the heart of its post-apocalyptic world, and with the game confirmed to be coming to Xbox Series X, the title will seemingly take advantage of what the system’s graphical capabilities will offer.
The official Xbox page forSTALKER 2has confirmed that the title will seemingly support ray tracing on Xbox Series X, alongside other visual enhancements such as being able to play in 4K Ultra HD resolution. While the initial trailer for the game that was shown last week was composed of cinematic renders, we can at least expect thatSTALKER 2is aiming for a high mark in giving players an enhanced visual experience on Xbox Series X.
As we saw inthe Xbox Games Showcase last week, Microsoft is going to great lengths to highlight the broader support it wants to achieve between offering cutting-edge visual fidelity for upcoming games and accessibility across different platforms. Previously, Microsoft had said it is not planning to have any titles be wholly exclusive to Xbox Series X initially so that titles could also be supported on Xbox One and PC for its first few years. However, those lines seemed to be blurred a bit at the Showcase with several titles initially being revealed that potentially could be skipping the Xbox One.
Additionally, some online scrutiny has been directed at a few of the games that were showcased by Xbox’s presentation for seemingly lackluster visuals, with some interpreting that they may be held back by offering support for older hardware such as the Xbox One.Halo Infiniteis among the most notable examples (asa result of the “Craig” Brute meme), thoughDigital Foundryoffered a more detailed examinationof how further optimization and tech like ray tracingcan potentially enhance titles such asHalo Infiniteon Xbox Series X.
STALKER 2is currently in development for Xbox Series X and PC, and expected to arrive sometime next year.
