An MMO shooter with survival elements is currently trending on Steam and is particularly popular in Russia and Ukraine. “Stalcraft” has a long history, but with a new update, the game is now breaking through on Steam. Fans see Stalcraft X as the illegitimate child of Stalker and Minecraft.
This is Stalcraft:
- Stalcraft originally launched in 2014 in Russia but only had its global release on Steam in 2022.
- Stalcraft is an MMO set in the radiation zone around Chernobyl. It shows clear influences from Stalker and Minecraft. The player must survive, gather resources, craft equipment, and upgrade it.
- What initially sounds like survival with MMO elements features a combat system akin to first-person shooters like Call of Duty or Counter-Strike.
Stalcraft: X is free to play on Steam (via Steam). While it does not support German, it does support English with subtitles. The original language of the game is Russian, and thus Stalcraft is also voiced in Russian.
2 Years After Release on Steam, an Update Brings Success
This is the upswing of the game: Currently, player numbers, two years after release on Steam, are higher than ever. With 25,040 concurrent players, Stalcraft reached its all-time peak for concurrent players on July 10.
In the last few days, player numbers have also been similarly high.
Update Completely Overhauls the Game
What is the reason? Stalcraft received a “transformative update” on July 10, which represents a soft relaunch for the entire game.
As PCGamesN writes, there are now:
- New locations
- New faction storylines
- New mechanics
- An advanced movement system
- Changes to the in-game economy
- Improved sound effects
- A revamped graphics
According to the developers, they have been working on the update for over a year. Now the hard work is paying off.
This is what the Steam reviews say: The game is particularly well-received by players who speak Russian (79% positive) or Ukrainian (86% positive). In English, the game holds a score of 71% positive reviews, while in German it is only at 62%.
The reviews say:
- “If Minecraft and Stalker had a baby, it would be this.”
- “Very grindy game, good PvE and PvP.”
- “The game deserves more players”
- “A good game that can be fun when played with friends. I particularly enjoy stories and quests.”
The scenario “The World After the Post-Apocalypse” is familiar to us Western players mainly from the role-playing game series Fallout, which was recently adapted into a TV series by Amazon. Especially the Vaults in Fallout ignite the imagination of players, as wild experiments often took place there: Fallout has a “Vault 69” and it is just as bad as you think
