From 2007 through 2009, the STALKER series became a flagship PC franchise that modding enthusiasts loved to tinker with before the series went dormant for over a decade. In its absence, Bethesda took up the mantle as one of the most mod-friendly developers in the business, eventually making Skyrim and Fallout 4 the standard for mod support on PC and even consoles. If STALKER 2 wants to make a big return and honor the legacy of previous games, especially on consoles, it should look at what Bethesda has done with the modding scene over the past 14 years.

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Mods Defined the Original STALKER Experience on PC

The original STALKER trilogy is PC gaming royalty due in part to its love for the PC space and robust support for mods. While PC and consoles are practically siblings these days, the original STALKER trilogy came from a time when the differences between the two platforms were quite drastic. Perhaps one of the biggest differences of that time was PC’s support for community-generated content. The Xbox 360 generation of consoles was part of a now antiquated philosophy where the hardware involved in making these consoles was entirely proprietary and, in many cases, complex to develop for and walled off for anyone who wasn’t a traditional game developer. The very curated approach to content on consoles meant that fans could only go to PC for video game modding.

PC-only franchises like STALKER, where fans had access to all parts of the game, harbored thriving communities due to mod support. From simple community bug patches to giant projects like STALKER: Call of Chernobyl that combined all three maps from the original trilogy into one, there was practically an endless fountain of free content readily available for STALKER fans on PC. Even ten years later, the original STALKER games are still regularly being played thanks to mods, with roughly 1,000 players logging in across the three games daily. However, as time passed, Bethesda’s Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises were the ones that ran away with community-generated content.

Skyrim’s Level of Mod Support Would Take STALKER 2 to the Next Level

In 2016, Bethesda launched Skyrim: Special Edition, a light overhaul of the original Skyrim featuring better lighting, bug fixes, and mod support on consoles. While the original Skyrim already had great Steam Workshop support on PC, bringing that great experience to the console space in a convenient package was a first for both Skyrim and console gaming as a whole. What’s best about Skyrim: Special Edition’s mod support was how quick and easy it was to download mods and change how the game is played. Gamers simply choose what they want, download it, and most of the time, the game will work just fine. Few games on consoles right now support modding at this level; however, both Skyrim and Fallout 4 have found a lasting community on consoles partially because of it.

GSC has stated that mods will be supported by STALKER 2 on PC from day one, but modding for the console ports is still in question when it really shouldn’t be. Skyrim and Fallout are juggernauts on Xbox Series X because of the wealth of content that mods provide, and STALKER 2 should follow the precedent that Bethesda has set on consoles. History has proven that nothing gives an open-world game legs like a community that is willing to fill that space with new content. STALKER 2 could foster an enthusiastic community of fans and live up to the legacy of the original STALKER trilogy if it just supports mods on consoles.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl releases in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

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