Recently, Sergiy Grygorovych, the founder of the GSC Game World, the studio behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, shared that the Xbox exclusivity deal surpassed the game's development budget.

The studio has since responded to Grygorovych's comments in a statement shared with IGN, saying his remarks "do not reflect the actual facts" about GSC Game World's relationship with Xbox.

GSC Game World emphasized that Sergiy was not involved in negotiations with partners regarding S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, nor in the project's actual development. "We have always fully honored these agreements on our side. For this reason, his comments regarding the company's activities cannot be considered an accurate reflection of the actual state of affairs," the statement reads. It further notes that company owner Max Krippa funded the majority of the development budget.

The statement does not disclose specific figures regarding the deal or the game's development costs.

GSC Game World also shared that it is finalizing a "significant update for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2," along with the game's first large-scale story DLC.

The DLC, titled Cost of Hope, will release on August 20. The upcoming update introduces new story content centered around the factions of Duty and Freedom, along with access to two previously inaccessible locations, the Iron Forest and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The DLC is set to launch alongside the major 2.0 update, which will reportedly bring an upgraded version of Unreal Engine 5 support along with additional free content.

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