STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Turns a Profit Within Weeks of Launch

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has officially become profitable, a senior representative from GSC Game World has confirmed. This milestone was achieved just weeks after the game's release, highlighting its strong commercial success.

The highly anticipated title from GSC launched on November 20 and quickly gained traction. Within just two days, the game sold over one million copies, a figure the Ukrainian developer proudly shared via social media. By December 18, just shy of the one-month anniversary of its release, the game had already turned a profit, as revealed by GSC owner Maxim Krippa in an interview with Forbes Ukraine.

While Krippa did not disclose updated sales numbers, he noted that STALKER 2 had a development budget in the "tens of millions of dollars." Based on publicly available data, including GSC's workforce size (approximately 400 employees) and average industry salary estimates, it's plausible the game's total budget exceeded $80 million.

STALKER 2 Likely Sold Close to 2 Million Copies

Considering industry-standard revenue splits, GSC earns approximately $42 per copy of STALKER 2’s Standard Edition, priced at $59.99. To cover an $80 million budget, the game would need to sell around 1.9 million copies. However, the actual break-even point was likely lower, thanks to higher-tier editions such as the Deluxe ($79.99) and Ultimate ($109.99), along with sales through the Epic Games Store, which takes only a 12% cut compared to the 30% charged by other platforms.

Given Krippa’s confirmation that the project has already turned a profit, it’s reasonable to estimate that STALKER 2 has sold close to two million copies by mid-December.

A Bright Future for the STALKER Franchise

The rapid commercial success of STALKER 2 bodes well for the future of the franchise. The game’s strong performance makes a sequel or new installment in the series more likely, much to the delight of fans.

What’s more, this achievement is particularly remarkable given the game’s limited platform availability—it is currently only playable on Xbox Series X/S and PC. A PlayStation 5 version could significantly boost its lifetime sales, though GSC has not officially announced such a port. However, documents from the 2021 Epic Games v. Apple court case revealed that Microsoft’s exclusivity deal for STALKER 2 lasts only three months, suggesting a PS5 release may already be in the works.

With this momentum, GSC Game World’s flagship franchise appears poised for continued growth, offering hope for more STALKER adventures in the future.