STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is among the few third-party Xbox Series X|S exclusive releases, which wasn't too surprising, considering the quality of the latest entry in the series and how unique the franchise generally is. What is surprising to learn, on the other hand, is how the exclusivity deal with Microsoft was reportedly decided.
In a recent interview with OLDboi, GSC Game World founder Serhiy Hryhorovych revealed that Microsoft agreed to fund the game's console exclusivity primarily because of the overwhelming view count on one of the game's YouTube trailers.
"We put out a STALKER 2 video, and when they saw the number of views on that video... within about a week they brought all the documents ready for signing," Hryhorovych stated. "They came to us. They saw the view count and quickly joined in."
The Xbox Series X|S exclusivity deal for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl was particularly favorable for the Ukrainian developer. According to the GSC Game World founder, Microsoft’s payout surpassed the entire development budget of the game way ahead of its release.
"We took more from Xbox than the entire development cost of STALKER 2," Hryhorovych revealed. "It paid for itself before day one, before it even started selling."
As we're unlikely to ever learn the financial details of the agreement, it's difficult to say if Xbox's gamble ultimately paid off, though it was almost certainly made with Xbox Game Pass in mind, given STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl launched directly into the service. And while GSC Game World may have lost out on individual sales due to Game Pass, something that has made even Xbox Studio leaders reportedly despise the service, securing a payout that exceeded their entire development budget ensured they came out ahead regardless ahead of the end of the console exclusivity window.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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