Xbox drops free new-gen remaster, no Game Pass needed

Three games are getting free remastered upgrades on Xbox, regardless of whether or not you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber.

GSC Game World, the developer and publisher behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, just announced the three of their previous titles are getting free upgrades on Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X.

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As stated in an article by IGN’s Wesley Yin-Poole, the three games getting free upgrades are S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.

If you don’t own any of the games, you can purchase all three newly upgraded versions of the games in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy - Enhanced Edition collection, available now for $39.99.

It sounds like not all of the upgrade paths have been created equal, however. For instance, if you own one of the games individually on PC, you’ll get access to the upgraded versions regardless at no extra charge.

However, it seems PlayStation and Xbox players have to specifically own the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy collection to gain access to the free remastered upgrades.

If I’m reading GSC Game World’s press release correctly, those who own one of the titles individually on PlayStation or Xbox won’t gain access to the free upgrades.

It might be worth shelling out the extra money for the upgrades regardless however, as IGN states that remasters feature “enhanced lighting with godrays, screen space reflections, and global illumination”, as well as “upscaled textures and detailed 3D models for NPCs, weapons, and environments.”

Well, I certainly don’t need any extra reason to replay the old S.T.A.L.K.E.R. titles, so I’ll gladly take these free upgrades. I’m just feeling extremely lucky that I own them individually on Steam…