Rumor: "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2" is Still Coming, Published by Bethesda

Can Bethesda do a "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." sequel right?

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Complex Original

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was rumored to still be in development as of last December, despite developer GSC Game World shutting its doors for good. But given we haven't heard anything in more than eight months, we had kind of assumed that something had been lost in communication and that the game was, in fact, dead.

But now 1C-Softclub Ukraine's Marketing Director Sergey Galyonkin has posted on his blog that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is alive and well, and that it's going to be published by Skyrim and Fallout studio Bethesda.

"Sergei Grigorovich does not sell brand STALKER. STALKER game by Bethesda and published all the rights to play it," reads Google's translation of the page—if you want a human take on those words, try redditor Sauronych's: "Sergey Grigorovich didn't sell the brand name "STALKER". Bethesda is going to publish a STALKER game and has all the rights to it."

The sequel to the Chernobyl disaster zone shooter will be released on consoles and PC, and its development is continuing under a studio familiar with Bethesda's tech—likely an internal team or Obsidian, claims the post. Furthermore, creator Sergei Grigorovich retains the rights for now, but Bethesda could buy them from him at some point.

Bethesda reportedly refused to comment. Any S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans out there? How would you feel about the game being Bethesda-ized? Tell us in the comments or on Twitter.

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