Stalker 2 isn't published by Microsoft, but the company has still been "so supportive" to its devs: "It would have been much different without them"

A screenshot from Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, showing the player with their gun raised, looking at a worn-down building from the outside.

After multiple delays, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is set to bring us back to the Exclusion Zone in November, and according to GSC Game World's PR manager, Microsoft has been very supportive of the team throughout the first-person shooter's development. 

The team at Ukrainian developer GSC Game World has faced incredibly challenging working conditions while producing Stalker 2, with the war in Ukraine forcing the devs to pause production in 2022 and relocate to Prague. It's understandable that the game's release ended up being pushed back, and according to PR manager Zakhar Bocharov, Microsoft itself has been considerate in this regard. The Xbox owner isn't publishing Stalker 2 – GSC Game World is doing that itself – but the two do have a deal to put the upcoming FPS title on Game Pass on its release day.