STALKER 2 Update 1.008 Adds “Stories Untold” Content for Free
GSC Game World is rounding out 2025 with a bang, as the developer has released the STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl “Stories Untold” Update.
This free content drop will show up to console gamers as STALKER 2 update 1.008 (complete version 1.008.000), and this adds over five hours of new gameplay in the form of new stories, new locations, and more.
For the complete list of new content and the gameplay improvements made, read on below.
STALKER 2 Update 1.008 Introduces Stories Untold Content on December 17
NEW STORIES
Over five hours of gameplay have been added, depending on your pace. Discover the mysterious transmission that gives stalkers headaches, nosebleeds, and even hallucinations.
As the story unfolds, you can choose to help the stalkers and scientists figure out what’s going on. Make decisions, fight for what you believe in, search for answers, and more.
You can catch a PDA message anywhere on the map, with the biggest chance around the Burnt Forest. How you deal with it will shape the fates of stalkers you meet. This mission will become available after leaving the Zalissya region in the early stages of the game.
This new storyline brings to life 8 new missions, 7 new locations, 6 new characters, 3 new unique items, unique weapon, and more.
NEW LOCATIONS & NEW HUB
Speaking of new locations, if you decide to explore untold stories, you are going to visit and explore new places. They are free to explore for everyone in the Zone, some locations that were previously occupied only by rusty metal or mutants are now used by stalkers. The storyline also might lead you to creating a new hub in the Burnt Forest region. The new place on the map will draw the stalker’s attention, so you can expect the whole area to become more populated. But again, this outcome of the quest is not granted. You may choose to play another way.
NEW WEAPON
The GP37V2 is a modified version of the GP37 rifle, crafted for the most tactically proficient players. It features a pre-installed suppressor and a low-magnification scope. The trigger group has been modified to support single and burst fire modes only.
The cost of failure is higher, but in the hands of a skillful operator, the GP37V2 can reward you with its precision and power. This thing you can get during the completion of the questline.
MASTER DIFFICULTY AND EXPEDITION MODE SIMPLIFICATION
This change allows you to simplify the save system if you want to play on “Master” difficulty or any other difficulty with the “Expedition mode” enabled.
After starting the game (if Master difficulty or difficulty with Expedition mode enabled is selected), you can enable the Manual Save system in the settings menu. This option is enabled once and permanently (for the current playthrough) and allows you to save with:
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Quick Save (F5).
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Regular Manual Save via the menu.
If these saves are enabled, the player’s progress status, which is displayed in the Pause menu, will change.
ADDITIONAL FIXES
- Fixed an issue where multiple artifacts could spawn in one place.
- Optimized multiple mutant models.
- Fixed an issue where NPC could not find a way to the shelter during an Emission at the Cement Factory location.
- Fixed an issue where NPC could not find a way to the shelter during an Emission in Zalissya.
- Fixed an issue that could cause massive mutant hordes to spawn at the Plant location of the Garbage region.
- Adjusted dead zone settings for DualSense controller on PC.
- Fixed an issue where the player could obtain the Heart of Chornobyl artifact from the regular anomalies.
While we’d love to say that this is the last patch for the game this year, we would be surprised if a hotfix isn’t released in the coming days to resolve any issues that might crop up from the glut of new content added.
If GSC Game World releases another patch, expect it here on MP1st.
Another single-player game that recently got a major update is Dying Light: The Beast, as Techland has released the Nightmare Experience content drop today.
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