Since Chernobylite 2 launched in Early Access, more than a year has passed. It has been one of the most demanding periods in the twenty-year history of The Farm 51, for the company, for the team, and for the project itself.
We took a serious hit. And the first thing I want to say is that many of you were right. Chernobylite 2 entered Early Access too soon. The game needed more time, stronger production stability, and better preparation before being placed in players’ hands. Optimization issues, bugs, temporary voice-overs, unfinished translations, missing polish, and other shortcomings caused some of you to lose trust in us. We understand that. And we are not going to pretend that everything went the way it should have. I am not writing this to look for excuses or to shift blame. I am writing this because rebuilding trust starts with being honest about what happened and then proving, through work, that we know how to fix it.
The problems around Chernobylite 2 had several causes. Some were production-related. Some were organizational. Some were connected to earlier business decisions that limited our room to manoeuvre at a critical moment. These factors affected both the pace of development and the timing of the Early Access release. But this is not a message about giving up. This is a message about getting back on track.
Early Access made one thing very clear - Chernobylite 2 still needs a lot of work but it also showed us exactly where that work has to be done. Your feedback was direct, specific, and often even difficult/painful to read. But it was very useful. It helped us identify what needed to change: technical stability, optimization, combat feel, enemy behaviour, pacing, story structure, localisation, voice-over, world content, and overall polish. We listened. And we have been working on those areas.
The Farm 51 is currently going through a restructuring process. Its purpose is to stabilize operations, improve how we organize production, reach necessary agreements with creditors, and create a stronger foundation for finishing Chernobylite 2 properly. This process is part of getting the company back into shape. I am writing this not only as the game director, but also as a member of The Farm 51’s Management Board, a role I took on during a difficult period for the company. Over the past months, we have had to make changes in how we plan, prioritize, and execute work. Today, our priority is clear - stabilize the company, focus the team, and bring Chernobylite 2 much closer to the game we always wanted to deliver. We know what has to be done. Thanks in part to your honest feedback. And we are doing it.
So what does that mean in practice?
We are improving the story, dialogue, and characters. We have carried out extensive story doctoring: strengthening character personalities, removing logical gaps, shortening sequences that were too talkative, and improving scenes that did not add enough value to the story. We want the whole experience to be more coherent, more emotional, and better aligned with the darker tone of the Chernobylite universe.
(This is our flowchart - we checked every quest, every branch, and every dialogue, rewriting almost every line.)
We want to re-record the voice-over in key language versions. Temporary solutions, including placeholder VO, were never meant to represent the final standard of the game. Our goal is to replace them with proper actor-recorded performances wherever production and financial conditions allow.
We are improving enemy AI, especially for monsters. Monsters should create tension, surprise players, and feel dangerous. They should not behave like simple cannon fodder. This area requires changes that better connect combat, exploration, and the survival-horror atmosphere of the game.
We want to expand the story content. We are planning additional main missions given by companions, as well as larger missions connected to faction leaders that lead into the game’s finale. The world needs stronger narrative weight, and the characters around you should matter more.
We want to fill the open world with more content. This means more events, traders, activities, and additional locations. Some of them will be connected to content created together with the community, including enemies and weapons designed as part of the Kickstarter campaign. We also want to add more opportunities to obtain unique equipment.
(The Kickstarter stuff is... pretty weird and crazy. It fits perfectly with random events in the Zone.)
We are implementing features and improvements you have asked for. This includes larger gameplay changes, such as leaning while aiming or sliding into cover, and quality-of-life improvements like custom descriptions for map markers, mass looting, and the ability to change the main character’s face. There are many more changes like this, and it would be difficult to list them all here. The overall goal is simple: to make the game feel smoother, more responsive, and closer to what many of you expected from the beginning.
(Leaning - a small thing, but it simply makes the experience better.)
We want to significantly improve the music. We want to bring back more guitar-driven sounds, because we feel that without those tones the game lost part of the Slavic atmosphere we want to restore more strongly.
(Yes, our Creative Director - Wojciech Pazdur - is taking matters into his own hands. Literally.)
We want to thoroughly improve the language versions. Localization requires more work and more complete LQA. We know the current translation quality does not meet the standard we should deliver.
We are continuing our work on stability and performance. Fixing known bugs, eliminating crashes, and optimizing areas where performance still leaves too much to be desired remain among our most important priorities.
I know many of you are waiting for a roadmap, dates, and the next major update. We understand that. Some parts of the rework, including major story changes, are already implemented internally. But not everything can be released separately or immediately. Some changes only make sense when they are connected with others. Some depend on voice-over. Some depend on additional production resources. We do not want to repeat the same mistake. We do not want to push out another update built around unfinished or temporary content just because everyone is waiting. We do not want to promise dates we cannot responsibly confirm. We do not want to create expectations that may later turn into another disappointment. First, we need to finalize the most important production decisions and make sure that anything we announce is realistic.
What I can say today is We have not abandoned Chernobylite 2. We are still here. We are still working. We still believe in this game. The last year was a hard lesson. It exposed mistakes, weaknesses, and decisions that should have been made differently. But it also made one thing clear. Chernobylite 2 still has potential, and we know what needs to be done to unlock it. We will not regain your trust with words alone. We know that.
We are fighting for this game, and we are giving it everything we have. We hope you will stay with us, keep giving us honest feedback, and keep your fingers crossed for the team and for Chernobylite 2.
Artur Fojcik, Game Director of Chernobylite and COO of The Farm 51.
(The first time I went to Chornobyl was over 10 years ago... From today’s perspective, it feels like a lifetime ago.)