Before release, Stalker 2 was hotly anticipated. So hotly anticipated, in fact, that we named it our number one most wanted game—the most wanted most wanted—at our PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted of 2023. Did you count that? That's four repetitions of the words 'most wanted' in a single sentence. That's how wanted it was.
And yet, despite how much we were looking forward to the game here at PCG, our anticipation couldn't hold a candle to the hype over in Stalker's home country, Ukraine. Ukrainian players were so eager to play the game that the sheer amount of downloading they were doing on release day caused nationwide internet problems for hours. Two internet providers, Tenet and Triolan, confirmed (via ITC) that downloads of Stalker 2 were responsible for overloading the country's network, causing slow internet speeds.
