STALKER 2 DLC Reveals its Main Characters

2 hours ago 1

Published Mar 23, 2026, 1:07 PM EDT

Jaime Tugayev is the News Editor for DualShockers with over a decade of experience, and a much longer love for fantasy, shooters and strategy games.

The STALKER universe is unforgiving. If you're a legendary gunsmith who falls on hard times, you're reduced to a drunk. The most talented mercenary in the zone survives one of its most violent emissions, with obvious consequences? Just another lunatic.

However, there is one guy whose reputation is almost as bulletproof as his aura, and we are finally going to see him in his full glory in STALKER 2. Ladies and gentlemen of the Zone, welcome back the man, the legend, Zulu.

Zulu Returns to Bring Dignity to Duty in New DLC

Despite Zulu being a drunkard with a major attitude issue in STALKER: Call of Pripyat, you'd be insane to question his competence as a stalker.

The copious amounts of vodka didn't stop Zulu from wielding his customized PKM machine gun to devastating effect, mowing down even the hardest of mutant hordes in the depths of Pripyat.

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Zulu's initial omission from STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl raised a few eyebrows and prompted more than a few stalkers, myself included, to go poking around the Cement Factory after the legend before calling the search off.

The specifics of Zulu's return are bound to be revealed during Thursday's Xbox Partner Preview, but everyone is hoping the upcoming DLC will add some depth to classic factions and make Duty more than a shadow of its former self.

What's New in the STALKER 2 DLC?

GSC Game World is keeping things under wraps, and we got less than five seconds of footage to work with here. However, after learning to survive on sausages and vodka, STALKER players weren't going to let scarcity get the best of them this time.

In breakdowns by the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 News page and a Reddit post by user Practical_Career4323, you can make out some of the details from the upcoming expansion.

The DLC seems to focus on two stalkers from opposite factions: aforementioned booze-chugging gigachad Zulu from Duty, and Mavka from Freedom. Details about Mavka's life are scarce at the moment.

The copious amounts of vodka didn't stop Zulu from wielding his customized PKM machine gun to devastating effect

The short video confirms players will have access to the innards of the powerplant, with a view of the NPP's long deareator corridor and a sign pointing to the Reactor 1 control room.

Also pictured are a new variant of the Svarog detector, the destroyed interior of what seems to be the SIRCAA building, and a group of Duty stalkers led by what appears to be its founder, Voronin.

For fans of the old trilogy, especially those who liked to side with Duty to mow down mutants and save the world, this is Christmas come early.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is currently available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.