Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is just around the corner and the game’s launch is going to be a big one. The long-awaited sequel arrives on PC and Xbox tomorrow – November 20th. Everyone seems excited and we’ve noticed Steam player counts for the original games are on the rise as gamers opt to refresh their memory or even play through them for the first time.

With nearly a 15-year gap between Call of Pripyat (the series’ last entry) and Heart of Chornobyl, a lot has changed. System requirements for the game look steep and we discovered that even the RTX 4090 isn’t enough for 4K native at 60 FPS if you want to play at maximum settings. Regardless, the game looks to be a worthy sequel and anticipation is high.

The original Stalker games see a small resurgence in player count

Looking at the SteamDB pages for the previous three Stalker games, you’ll notice an uptick in player counts, almost like players are ‘warming up’ for the new game.

• Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl
• Stalker: Clear Sky
• Stalker: Call of Pripyat

The original game, which launched way back in 2007, has seen the biggest player spikes in the past few weekends. We assume players want to direct their excitement for the sequel somewhere, so where better than where the series all began in Shadow of Chernobyl? On November 17th, concurrent players peaked at 1,628 – this peak is 803 and 1,162 for Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat respectively.

Considering Stalker 2 is currently listed as the number-one title in the Steam top sellers list at the moment, just ahead of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, we can expect a big spike of players on launch day. According to SteamDB, the peak number of concurrent players for any Stalker game is 2,308 in Shadow of Chernobyl and we expect Stalker 2 to smash that number. The game is also going to be available via Game Pass on day one; player numbers here won’t be accounted for on Steam.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.