GSC Game World dropped the bombshell on the zone wanderers. The game was now for physical publishing for the first time on PlayStation 5. This combines the Habar Pack, with an early 2026 release date. Packed with all the legendary goodies offered in the Ultimate Edition. Just the cool stuff.
This is probably where the trouble starts, right? Because those players who had been anticipating the arrival of their Ultimate Edition orders for PC since sometime around November 2024 could hardly believe their luck. Mistgun974 opened unceremoniously, “Hello team, I ordered this ultimate version on PC since November 2024 and I still haven’t received my order.” And they certainly are not alone. Popiolek15 laid the doom with “Most of the people who preordered it for PC/Xbox still haven’t received it and don’t know when they’ll get it, but you’re already selling it to PS players. Touché.”
Then you’ve got all this drama around the Habar Pack itself. Folks began to realize the starkly obvious truth that the pack does not come with the game. Unapers48430579 was like “Not include the game????wtf”. Now that is one ripping question. Who would even drop nearly 400 bucks on a collector’s item that doesn’t come with the game? Woahwashere quantified the gravity: “Also why $400 and no game?” I second that.
Then discussions about the physical edition started again. Some staunchly advocate physical editions. Aggressive expletives flowed from NikeFerrari_: “Fuck game rental subscriptions. I only pay to own my games in physical format. Deal with it.” Of course, there are the fears of whether a physical edition is actually just a license key disc, as MetroidFREAK21 brings up: “Probably a 99% chance it’s merely a license key disc.” Which pretty much kills it for many collectors.
Availability in the different regions is another headache. TheJohnBelcher simply asked, “So not available in the UK then?” with Salguero_do wondering about Mexico. And pricing comes up again – with PersonaWicked calling out, “389.99 US wowzer.” That’s a hell of an amount of rubles for some zone gear.
Well, not everyone’s angry. Sloane___Ranger was very happy about it: “That’s great news!” Meanwhile, cryptobruh117 just wants that “Need that bag!” Which is fair, the merch does look cool. KrisPSOnline then said, “Wow that’s how to do it properly,” probably having no clue that the game itself isn’t included. Wait, what was I saying?
So in 2025, it seems everybody is still fighting about physical or digital. Some of the players are absolutely for physical copies because…as KrisPSOnline stated… “Because it has resale and trade value. I only buy physical games.” Then, the bitter truth comes; so many of those so-called physical editions don’t even have the real game on their discs, which was what made why_gt8 say it makes him want to avoid buying Stalker 2 just on that basis.
The timing, well, a little questionable. Give the fact that PC and Xbox guys are still waiting their Ultimate Editions from last year, to say there is a physical for PS5 and a new bar pack for 2026, just adds layers to an already complicated malarkey. Given this game history, Popiolek15 might be making a valid point as delayed orders shall “get another mail about delay in 2026 dont worry.”
What would be fun, of course, is having exactly that. In physical format might be a kind of Habar Pack for PS5 players, and it will probably have worthy collectibles for die-hard fans. GSC, though, probably could have now focused on delivering the existing orders before thinking about attacking new premium editions. The zone waits for no one, but, god knows, shipments will. It will be delightful to see how things play out in 2026 when that finally relieves. By then, maybe everyone will have their orders in hand. Or then again…probably we’ll be fighting for artifact stuffed backpacks in the official Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
