Press release

Koch Media and GSC Game World partner up for the physical release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl

Theale, UK, Wednesday, August 11th, 2021 – Today, Koch Media, a leading global publishing partner, and GSC Game World, a Ukrainian video game developer, announced their physical publishing partnership for the upcoming release of the open-world first-person shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl. The long awaited sequel to the popular S.T.A.L.K.E.R.- franchise will be available for Xbox Series X/S and PC on April 28th, 2022.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl is based on a fictional universe in an altered timeline set in Chernobyl. The unique blend of first-person shooter, horror and immersive simulation lets players loose into a huge open world in a post-apocalyptic setting. The first gameplay of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl premiered during Microsoft’s E3 2021 showcase and has since then received numerous “Best of the Show” awards from media throughout the globe.

Stephan Schmidt, Director of Global Partner Publishing at Koch Media adds: “After the great presentation at E3, we are more than thrilled to set the stage for a global physical market entry for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl. We already worked on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky and are looking forward to closely collaborate with GSC Game World again on all physical publishing matters to successfully release the next chapter of the award winning S.T.A.L.K.E.R franchise.”

Evgeniy Grygorovych, CEO of GSC Game World adds: “We are pleased to partner with Koch Media to bring physical editions of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl to players across the globe. We trust our game is now in capable hands. Together, we will offer several editions of the game to the players so everyone can find the best value for themselves.”

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe is based on three videogames as well as several hundred books, comics and numerous fan-fiction pieces. With over 15 Million copies sold worldwide, the franchise has been critically acclaimed and fans are eagerly waiting for its return with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl.
For more information about the game, please visit the Website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and check out Koch Media UK on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch.  

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About GSC Game World
GSC Game World is a Ukrainian video game developer based in Kyiv. Founded in 1995, it is best known for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Cossacks game series. The studio is currently developing the next big entry in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise.

About Koch Media
The Koch Media Group is a global developer, publisher and distributor of video games, VR games, gaming hardware and merchandise.

The group’s publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe, America, Australia and Asia. Koch Media has more than 25 years of experience in the digital media business and has risen to become a leading global publishing partner. The Koch Media Group runs a multi-label strategy with fully owned publishing

units such as Deep Silver, Milestone, Vertigo Games and Ravenscourt, publishing games for consoles, PC and VR platforms across all physical and digital channels.

Additionally, as global publishing partner Koch Media has formed long-term multi-national publishing collaborations with numerous game publishers including Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Capcom, CI Games, Giants Software, Kalypso, Koei Tecmo, Konami, Paradox, Sega, SNK, Square Enix, Techland, Tripwire, Warner Bros, and many others.

With its parent company in Höfen, Austria, and the Publishing HQ in Munich, Germany, Koch Media owns local publishing companies in Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Australia, the United States as well as Japan and Hong Kong.

The Koch Media Group owns nine game development studios: Deep Silver Volition (Champaign, IL / USA), Deep Silver Dambuster Studios (Nottingham / UK), Deep Silver Fishlabs (Hamburg / Germany), Warhorse Studios (Prague / Czech Republic), Milestone (Milan / Italy), Voxler (Paris / France) , Flying Wild Hog (Warsaw, Kraków, Rzeszów / Poland), Free Radical Design (Nottingham / UK) and Vertigo Games (Rotterdam /The Netherlands). Additionally, the Koch Media Group collaborates with numerous independent development studios around the world.

Part of the Koch Media Group is also Koch Films, a leading European independent film distributor with business primarily in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy as a cinema, TV, online and Home Entertainment distributor. The Koch Media Group also owns Gaya Entertainment, a leading video game merchandise company in Munich, Germany, and the Quality Assurance Facility in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Koch Media is an Embracer Group company.