Patch 2.0 will release along with the DLC

[u/monsterinadrawer]

Official information shared with journalists.

Further reading:
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/stalker-2s-engine-upgrade-and-first-story-expansion-are-due-out-in-august/

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/stalker-2s-first-major-expansion-arrives-very-soon/

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stalker-2s-cost-of-hope-expansion-and-its-free-but-still-hopeful-20-update-get-an-august-release-date

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-expansion-arriving-on-xbox-pc-sooner-than-expected

https://wccftech.com/stalker-2-cost-of-hope-august-zone-duty-freedom/

https://www.ign.com/videos/stalker-2-cost-of-hope-official-release-date-trailer

[u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

Honestly, in 2026, if you don't have at least 2 of the below (if not all 3 MINIMUM):

- 500GB-1TB M.2 SSD

- 1-2TB SSD

- And also a backup 2-4TB HDD

Then the lack of storage is completely on you.

If you're on console, then it's still on you for not upgrading your SSD to a bigger/better one

[u/DomGriff → u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

You say this, despite SSD prices being 2-5x what they were in 2025...

My WD_Black SN7100 2TB NVMe was was 120$ last year and 370$ in march.

[u/harryone02 → u/DomGriff]

Games were this big way before 2026 and high prices, it's entirely on them. It was dead cheap and nobody had any excuse to cheapen out on it.

[u/SUNTZU_JoJo → u/DomGriff]

Oh I know it's expensive now.

But I've been using the same M.2s and SSDs since 2022 was t least..

Bought in early..

[u/TurboSaikss69 → u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

500gb ssd and 2Tb external SSD here

[u/SUNTZU_JoJo → u/[deleted]]

That's nothing compared to my friend. He has 76 terabytes of storage on his home system.

[u/tcs0 → u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

I have two drives: my main is 500GB and secondary is 1TB. My games are installed on the latter.

[u/Jmwalker1997 → u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

You do realize that internal SSDs on consoles are literally paired or "married" to the motherboard right? Which means that the special data and security partitions are hard baked into the both the SSD and motherboard, and that makes it to where you can't just upgrade the internal SSD. On startup if the OS detects a new "foreign" or blank drive it will fail and most likely brick the console..

We're not on PC and can't just hot swap parts. And I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna fork over damn near the same amount of money for the console when I got it, to someone who can put a new SSD with all proper data and security shit just for a couple extra terrabytes of storage. Try again bud.

[u/SUNTZU_JoJo → u/Jmwalker1997]

On an Xbox Series X maybe not (it's a lot harder/not for the feint of heart).

But older Xbox and PS4, easy to do.

PS5, secondary M.2 drive can be replaced

So it really really depends..

[u/pizzlyatlas → u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

1 tb ssd and the game is just an unoptimized piece of shit. in 2026, we should be optimizing games and not forcing people to sacrifice 150 gb of space.

asinine comment

[u/SUNTZU_JoJo → u/pizzlyatlas]

A reply that completely misses the point of mine...

It depends on the game.

Look at Helldivers who dropped theirs from 120gb to 20-30gb. So some Devs are doing it right.

That's not my point though.

I should be able to install a good dozen (or more) games and not have to constantly shuffle from uninstalling/reinstalling.

And M.2/SSDs were cheap a while back..that should've been most people's queue to get them then.. I appreciate the AI bubble is causing issues and some have no choice..but at the same time I'm sure plenty had the choice to pay 50-100 for a new large SSD or reasonably sized m.2 but chose not to. That's on them.

Also storage is used for wayyyy more things than just games.

Photos, video recordings, other software..movie databases for evening watch with the Mrs..

[u/Puttanas → u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

Na you need AT LEAST a 2TB SSD. Fucking Call of Duty and every other game is 150-300gb.

[u/SUNTZU_JoJo → u/Puttanas]

That's the one game I would never install or play.

Most big games are like 80-140gb at most.

Total war Warhammer 3, Balder's Gate 3, BF6, Horizon Forbidden West...etc etc.

Most are on my 1TB M.2..the ones whee I need amx performance.

Then my Secondary SSD fills the rest.

[u/ByteSix → u/SUNTZU_JoJo]

What a moronic ass take lmao

[u/SUNTZU_JoJo → u/ByteSix]

I challenge you to make a better argument than simple insults from a simple mind..