STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition Silently Removes In-Game Ads

GSC Game World has quietly removed the STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl advertisements from the Enhanced Edition of STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy—a change that will likely please long-time fans. The intrusive ads, previously embedded in the menus of all three remastered titles, were widely criticized by players for disrupting immersion.

🧩 A Subtle but Welcome Change

Released on May 20, 2025, the Enhanced Edition brings modern updates to the classic STALKER trilogy—Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat—across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. While the remastered collection was made free for owners of the original trilogy, it faced backlash at launch due to persistent advertising promoting the upcoming STALKER 2.

Now, following a recent patch quietly rolled out by GSC and spotted by VideoGamer, those ads have been completely removed. The update clears all menu-based promotional banners across the trilogy, offering players a cleaner, ad-free experience.

💥 A Rocky Launch, Slowly Redeemed

While the ad removal is a positive step, it’s only one part of the Enhanced Edition’s recovery arc. Upon launch, the remaster faced intense community backlash and was review-bombed on Steam, initially receiving a "Mostly Negative" rating. Fans cited numerous grievances, including:

• Lack of DLSS/DLAA support
• Noticeably blurry visuals
• Controversial revisions to Russian and Soviet-era architecture

Since then, GSC Game World has worked to rebuild goodwill. Earlier updates addressed stability issues, bug fixes, and save-loading errors, steadily improving overall quality.

🔧 Meanwhile, STALKER 2 Continues to Evolve

While refining the Enhanced Edition, GSC remains hard at work on STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The recent Update 1.5 brought sweeping changes to the A-Life system, enhancing NPC behavior, AI combat, and overall Zone realism. The patch also introduced balancing tweaks and resolved a number of bugs and crash issues, reaffirming the studio’s commitment to polish across the franchise.

With ad removals and performance improvements now underway, fans can finally enjoy the classic trilogy without distractions—and look forward to a more refined STALKER 2 experience on the horizon.