Stalker 2 devs admit A-Life 2.0 nerf ahead of launch was due to major flaw

A GSC Game World developer admitted the team nerfed Stalker 2’s A-Life 2.0 simulation system due to performance-related concerns.

The A-Life system in the original Stalker governed virtually every aspect of the world’s simulation. It proved integral to the AI behaviors of NPCs and creatures in the Zone, ensuring the world kept turning independent of the player.

For the sequel, A-Life 2.0 was explained as a tool that guaranteed gameplay would feel even more emergent. Hopeful players were surprised, then, when mention of the system vanished from Stalker 2’s Steam page before launch.

The shock increased post-release, as many became convinced A-Life’s presence had either been removed or heavily diminished. Developers have since confessed that it’s not working as intended, but the extent of the issue is just starting to surface.

Stalker 2 dev explains A-Life 2.0’s shortcomings

Speaking with IGN, GSC Game World CEO and Creative Director Ievgen Grygorovych Maria Grygorovych broke down what went awry with A-Life’s updated version during development.

Performance issues sit at the heart of the matter, Ievgen explained, noting that the team had to reduce A-Life 2.0’s area of influence around the player because of optimization concerns on PC and console.

A properly functioning A-Life should impact a wider range of the virtual world, all while “requiring much more memory resources.” Attempts at improving optimization resulted in GSC “cut[ing] things from different directions,” leading to the game’s buggy lunch.

However, the developer has promised the crew is hard at work improving Stalker 2’s performance to boost A-Life 2.0 functionality. “We are now continuing working on the optimization part to bring more resources for the A-Life system, to increase the range where A-Life is actually visualized,” Ievgen said.

GSC Game World

As for why A-Life suddenly disappeared from the Steam description, Maria said the decision came from a marketing representative who told them that most players weren’t aware of the feature.

To simplify information on the store page, marketing removed A-Life 2.0 details without GSC’s knowledge or permission. Maria only learned about the missing particulars because of Reddit. IGN said she showed screenshots of internal communications to prove her claims.

Mentions of the feature won’t return to Steam until it’s fixed in-game. For now, there’s no timeline on when exactly players can expect that to happen.