Summary
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobylupdate 1.0.2 is now available to download on select platforms. This is the secondSTALKER 2patch since the game’s debut, as well as its second in two days.
Developer GSC Game Worldannounced the first post-releaseSTALKER 2updatenearly a full week ahead of its arrival, which finally happened on Friday, November 29. Between this timing and the fact that the Ukrainian studio didn’t hint at yet another patch already being on the horizon, fans weren’t expecting anything to drop over the weekend.
But that’s precisely what ended up happening, with a follow-up update arriving in the early morning hours ET on November 30. Identified by version number 1.0.2, this release is much smaller thanSTALKER 2patch 1.0.1, but no less significant. This is primarily because it ships with several critical fixes for issues preventing progression in certain mid-game quests. These include one particularly important mission that unlocks after players leave a massive enclosed location—which shall remain unnamed to avoid spoilers.
STALKER 2 Update 1.0.2 Fixes More Crash Causes
Aside from half a dozen quest-related fixes, the 1.0.2 patch also addresses additional cases of crashes ending in an “EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error. This category of problems—all of which stem from the game attempting to access memory locations that it shouldn’t—has recently been the subject of a lot ofSTALKER 2troubleshootingamong the fandom. The 1.0.1 update already resolved some scenarios leading to such crashes, but the jury’s still out on whether this follow-up patch makes all of them a thing of the past.
STALKER 2update 1.0.2 is approximately 14.8GB in size on Steam. According to player reports on social media, the Microsoft Store and Xbox Store versions of the game are yet to receive the patch as of 10am ET on November 30. The same thing happened with the previous update, which reached Steam and the Epic Games Store a few hours before landing on Microsoft’s platforms.
The November 30 update marks a continuation ofGSC’s efforts to fixSTALKER 2’s launch issues. One major complaint that’s still unresolved involves the game’s A-Life system, which currently appears broken, as underlined by the fact that mobs spawn only within a small radius around the player and lack variety. That said, there’s been a lot of confusion surrounding what A-Life 2.0 is exactly meant to be following the game’s launch, making it unclear how much of the current system is bugged versus simply not working in line with fan expectations. For example, modders rummaging through the game’s files haven’t yet discovered conclusive evidence to suggest that the game was designed to simulate NPC activity outside the player’s immediate vicinity—a feature of the originalSTALKERtrilogy that created a persistent world.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
WHERE TO PLAY
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a sequel to the award-winning game franchise developed by GSC Game World. Experience one-of-a-kind gameplay, featuring the elements of a first-person shooter, immersive sim, and horror. The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is a unique, dangerous and ever-changing environment. It promises a lot — the artifacts of unbelievable value can be yours if you dare to claim them. The price you may pay, on the other hand, is no less than your own life. One of the biggest open-worlds to date, filled with radiation, mutants and anomalies, is yours to explore. All the choices across the way not only define your own epic story, but influence the future itself. Be mindful about what you see, do and plan, as you will have to find your way through the Zone or be forever lost to it.
