Those exploring the dangers, wonders, and mysteries of The Zone will be happy to hear that STALKER 2 — GSC Game World's popular open-world survival shooter on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC — has been updated with Patch 1.1.4. The new update is the studio's first of 2025, and includes several different fixes for major issues that were still impacting the game.
By far, the most critical fix included in the patch is a solution for a bug that was causing save files to disappear on the Xbox version of the game, leading to many players losing several hours of progress. Stalkers have been consistently reporting occurrences of this glitch for many weeks now, so it's great to finally see it addressed properly. Once you download the update, you shouldn't have to worry about this issue anymore if you're using one of Microsoft's consoles to play.
Additionally, GSC Game World has also rectified several performance issues, including a bug that was causing crashes and freezes during shader compilation, a memory leak in the Rostok zone of the map, a glitch that was leading to performance degradation after aiming or shooting weapons on very long playthroughs, and crashes caused by UI animations. Overall, the patch was a small one, but even so, the fixes included were major. Notably, the section below lists the full patch notes.
"A fight with the Shader Compilation was among the hardest for all of us in recent days," reads a post made about the update. "Please, if your particular shader compilation issue is still present — let us know via our Tech Support Hub (linked here). This is also the best place to report other bugs and 'anomalies' that are not supposed to be in the Zone."
On social media, GSC Game World also indicated that a larger, more substantial update for STALKER 2 is on the way soon, and that more patches are coming as well: "This update is the first of the year, and we will be releasing another major update for the game very soon. ... We will continue to work on STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl and will soon be ready to share other updates with you."
The developer hasn't yet shared any details about what's coming in that larger update, but since it's confirmed it's working on STALKER 2's PvP multiplayer, it could be the patch that introduces it to the shooter. Ultimately, though, we won't know for sure until the studio has more to share publicly.
As for what's coming later in 2025 and beyond, we know that GSC's STALKER 2 plans include two story expansions as well as continued support via additional updates and necessary tweaks and changes. It's unclear what the full scope of these DLCs is and if they'll continue Skif's story or focus on new playable stalkers, but players coming across the "Iron Forest" and "CNPP" unfinished locations suggests these will be where the expansions are set. There's also been no word of a release date for the DLCs, but a content roadmap is coming soon early this year.
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Ultimately, this was a small, but excellent patch, and I'm excited to see what GSC Game World has cooking for future ones, too. STALKER 2 was easily one of the best Xbox games and best PC games I played last year, and it's poised to get even better over time as its developers release updates like this one as well as new pieces of content.
STALKER 2 has a $59.99 MSRP on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, but notably, you can get it for a discount at CDKeys right now. You can also play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is an affordable way to "try before you buy" or enjoy the full game if you're already subscribed to Microsoft's buffet-style gaming service.
STALKER 2 Update 1.1.4: Patch Notes
Below, you'll find the list of patch notes for STALKER 2 Patch 1.1.4 that have been taken directly from the game's news page on Steam. There's only a few short ones in this update, but nevertheless, the fixes implemented should make a big impact.
- Fixed crashes and freeze on shaders compilation
- Fixed memory leak occurred at Rostok location
- Fixed performance degradation when shooting/aiming on saves with long playtime
- Implemented fixes, that should solve the problem causing saves to be lost on Xbox
- Fixed a random crash related to UI animations.
