GSC Game World is already working on the next major content update for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. The Ukrainian studio, owned by Maksym Krippa, has identified two main areas of focus for its future work: a second story-driven DLC and a multiplayer mode.
GSC Game World CEO Yevgen Grygorovych and Creative Director Maria Grygorovych spoke about this in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun during Gamescom. According to the studio’s leaders, both projects are already in development, although no specific details about their release are available yet.
Yevgen Grygorovych called DLC 2 and multiplayer the two biggest next steps for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. At the same time, GSC wants to avoid a situation where new content simply replicates solutions already used by the studio itself or other developers.
According to the head of GSC, the new expansion will differ from Cost of Hope not only in content but also in its approach to storytelling and gameplay. The developers aim to design it in a way that surprises players and delivers an outcome that isn’t quite what they expect—but in a positive sense.
Another feature is the multiplayer mode, which GSC previously announced following the game’s release; it will be free. The studio emphasizes that it has no plans to mechanically port elements from other popular games into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
“We’re not trying to copy other mechanics; instead, we’re creating something that our players—who have already played our game for 2,000 hours—will enjoy,” explained Yevgen Grygorovych.
Maria Grygorovych noted that a small portion of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 audience is looking forward to multiplayer, since the team itself is primarily focused on the single-player experience. That is why the developers are experimenting and searching for their own approach to the multiplayer component.
According to her, the final format may differ from what individual players envision. The reason is that different members of the community have their own ideas about what multiplayer in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 should be like.
At the same time, Yevgen Grygorovych confirmed that GSC hopes to reveal more details about the mode relatively soon. It’s already known that it won’t be based on a session-based model, like in Counter-Strike.