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GSC Game World confirms S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 uses Unreal Engine 4
GSC Game World officially confirmed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is being developed on Unreal Engine 4. While the engine offers modern tech, its suitability for open-world games raises some concerns.
As early as December 31, rumors circulated that Ukrainian studio GSC Game World had chosen Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 to power the sequel to its legendary S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise.
Ironically, this 'mishap' was actually Epic Games' own doing. The company had prematurely added GSC Game World's project to its official list of Unreal Engine 4 titles.
Epic Games, however, quickly rectified the situation, removing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 from the Unreal Engine 4 games list the very same day.
Nevertheless, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 developer, GSC Game World, decided to make an official statement today via its VKontakte page:
«Truth be told, we had planned to announce this later, but our colleagues at Epic surprised everyone (including us) right on New Year's Eve. The GSC Game World team always picks the most suitable and advanced technologies, and UE proved to be the best choice available. It gives us the power to craft the project you're waiting for. We can truly capture that dangerous, captivating S.T.A.L.K.E.R. atmosphere — the very essence of our game universe. Lastly, Unreal Engine (in the right hands) aligns perfectly with our goal of making modding convenient and accessible. Thanks to modders, the Zone continues to live and evolve while we're busy developing the sequel. And yes, we know what you're thinking, but this news has absolutely no bearing on platforms or digital storefronts. More on that later.»
Frankly, from one perspective, selecting Unreal Engine 4 for a game with a presumably limited budget seems both sensible and logical. After all, UE4 offers an abundance of user-friendly tools and impressive capabilities. However, there's another side to this.
If the sequel to the acclaimed domestic shooter maintains the open-world structure of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R., we might be looking at an unoptimized, even unplayable, project. Unreal Engine 4, after all, is notoriously ill-suited for large-scale open-world titles.
Of course, there's always the hope that GSC Game World will implement DirectX 12 support in their new game. But given the API's experimental status in the current Unreal Engine 4 build, that's a tough sell. Still, these are just speculations, largely based on other UE4 projects already released.
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