Stalcraft X Patch Notes (17th June 2026)

The Exclusion Zone just got a visual facelift. EXBO Team's latest patch rolls out a new lighting system that changes how locations feel, adding depth, atmosphere, and dynamic light that makes the Zone look almost unrecognizable in places. It's optional and can be toggled in graphics settings, which matters because the performance hit is real, especially on older hardware.

Beyond the visuals, South locations got a complete overhaul: Swamps, Kolos Agrocomplex, Black Willows, and Scrapyard all have new enemy placements, redesigned dungeons, and rebalanced rewards. Beast Lair ditches its stealth segment entirely and adds a proper boss fight. Meanwhile, Wild North got tuned down, player pursuit distances are shorter, Murmur events spawn less frequently, and drone explosions hit way harder on your ears than your health bar now.

PvP subdivision battles capped at 25 players per region, respawn invisibility is gone from Session battles, and the kill requirement dropped from 100 to 75. There's also a new Mushroom Epic questline and the first Season Pack in the shop. Check what's actually changed in your favorite locations and PvP modes below.

Lots of small details change the appearance of the Exclusion Zone, sometimes beyond recognition. Some things you will see a little later, but most of the changes you will see right here and right now.

Content

● Hot week

● Updated lighting

● South locations changes

● Voiceover update

● Wild North adjustments

● Subdivision Battles changes

● The Mushroom Epic

● Chat rework

● Season Pack #1

● Other

Hot week

A hot week is ahead which brings the following:

● Increased prices of some mutant parts by x2.

● Increased the spawn rate of mutants, pulp, grass, and crystals by 20% in the Labyrinth, Wild North, and faction North zones.

● Reduced announcment board daily quests reset time to 6 hours.

● Reduced time between North outpost activations.

Updated lighting

New lighting has been added to the Zone, significantly changing the visual feel of locations: adding depth, a different atmosphere, and making light look more dynamic.

This is an optional graphical feature. It can be enabled or disabled in graphics settings in Light sources.

At the moment, the updated lighting is enabled on the following locations:

● South Zone;

● Wild North;

● All Safe Zones;

● Main story dungeons.

Game performance and plans

The new lighting system significantly impacts performance and may noticeably reduce FPS, especially on weaker PCs. If you experience drops, simply disable the option.

The new lighting will not yet appear on other Zone locations. Why?

We are currently collecting performance data, defining target metrics, and shaping a general approach to optimizing the system across locations. We are also taking your feedback on the visual quality into account.

In the future, we plan to gradually roll out the new lighting to other locations in upcoming updates, based on the above.

South locations changes

Visual and gameplay changes have been made to the following locations:

● Swamps;

● Kolos Agrocomplex;

● Black Willows;

● Scrapyard.

Mechanics updates

● Adjusted the location and strength of infections;

● Ghouls and Skitters can now be encountered in these locations;

● Changed location of open world events;

● Recalculated reward economy for clearing-out events;

● Added Supply Point events and a gold event with NPCs;

● Partially added animations for events.

South dungeons changes

Beast Lair

● Changed the dungeon entrance locations at Kolos Agrocomplex and Black Willows;

● Added visual style for the Inside Out;

● Partially modified the level design;

● Removed the intermediate location required to access the dungeon;

● Changed the encountered enemies before the Beast;

● Added a short boss fight with the Beast.

Clash

● Updated the map to reflect visual changes of the Pervomaysky Factory;

● Recalculated the NPC balance inside the dungeon.

Nightmare 2

● Removed the stealth run episode from the dungeon.

● Removed the stealth segment from the dungeon.

Voice-over update

● Added English voice-over for the South storyline. Please note that it is currently in development and will be improved in the future.

● Added English voice-over for announcer.

● Added a separate voice-over language setting.

Wild North adjustments

● Reduced player pursuit distance by 10 metres in all events.

● Changed the number of Murmur Antenna at location: 4 -> 3.

● Increased the time before new Murmur Antennas appear at the location.

● Reduced the maximum number of Ghoul Den events in the swamps of Uranus Mill.

● Increased time until new Ghoul Den events appear in the swamps of Uranus Mill.

Murmur Camps and Squads

● Reduced the maximum number of events in the Wild North locations.

● Increased the respawn time for new Murmur Squad and Murmur Camp.

● Increased respawn time for the Stare and Gaze Murmur NPCs.

● Significantly reduced damage from drone explosions.

● Significantly reduced the slowdown effect caused by TVs landing on players.

Subdivision Battles changes

● Reduced maximum number of participants in Subdivision Battles for EU and NA regions to 25 players. The maximum number of players in subdivision remained uncanged (max 35 players).

● Respawn invisibility no longer applies to players in Session battles.

● Player stats in Glass Deatmatch now match those in GOST-17 Deathmatch.

● Reduced the number of kills required to win in Session Battles from 100 to 75.

The Mushroom Epic

Seems like Terentiy remembered the next part of his chronicle. He will get in touch with you as soon as you find yourself… somewhere. If he will remember your face at all...

Chat rework

● The default channel is now the radius chat (60 metres), and the location chat has been moved to the second tab.

● In the location chat, messages from all factions are now visible in safe zones. In the South Zone, messages from players of the native faction (Stalkers/Bandits) are visible. In the North Zone, Lyubech-3 and the Wild North, only messages from your own faction are visible.

● Messages sent via the radius chat now appear above players.

● Updated chat nickname colours. The names of allies and enemies in the chat are now distinguishable.

Season Pack #1

The first pack of the season has arrived in the shop – with this, you can brave the radiation zones and gallop right through them! It’s true, but only once…

Other changes and fixes

● Players on your in-game blacklist will no longer appear when you search for a game in Operations.

● Added lipsync for players whilst using voice chat.

● To gain instant access to loot from a defeated enemy, you must now deal at least 30% of the damage — damage from anomalies, mutants and external sources is no longer counted. Furthermore, the list of loot applicants now includes those who dealt damage to a target whilst it was critically wounded.

● Expanded the functionality of security codes for duelling and character deletion.

● The required currency is now displayed in collection tasks.

● In safe zones, messages from any faction are visible. In the South Zone, you can see messages from your original faction (Stalkers/Bandits). In the North Zone, Lyubech-3 and the Wild North, you can only see messages from your own faction.

● It is now not possible to mark an enemy located within the area affected by smoke or gas grenades, or behind them.

● Updated the model of the Fleece protective suit.

● Added display of damage reduction based on distance for explosives.

● Airdrop now kills players inside it once collision is enabled.