News on has been pretty scarce. It was initially announced back in 2010, then cancelled shortly afterwards. A new announcement was made more recently, in 2018 – but since then, updates have been fairly few and far between.

But today, developers GSC Game World released a new screenshot via Twitter, along with the words, “Dear Stalkers, here is your first glimpse at “.

The screenshot itself looks incredibly eerie, with the rusted-out cars and the slightly washed-out looking forest setting (which immediately reminds me of Remedy’s horror title, ). And while isn’t technically a horror game – and maybe isn’t either, for that matter – the subject matter the first three games deal with certainly qualifies them as such.

A message to players follows the screenshot tweet, reminding them that was released in March 2007, 13 years ago, and goes on to say that players can expect more updates in 2020.

“Greetings, Stalkers!

“Thirteen years ago we released .

“The world was never the same after that. Millions of players rushed into the Zone. Driven by the desire to uncover mysteries, you overcame difficulties, hunted for treasures, fought monsters and joined factions.

“You changed to become the real Stalkers.

“You made this day forever special.

“Being inspired by everything you do (including arts, stories, cosplays and mods), we fully understand we can’t let you down. The second chapter of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. saga will be our most ambitious game so far. It will live to the legendary legacy.

“A lot of you are joining social isolation now. That’s why today, on a very special occasion, we are ready to slightly uncover the mystery of what we are working on. This is the first glimpse of .

“Consider it as our humble present, with more to come in 2020.”

The original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy is set around the site of the Chernobyl incident, and is made up of , , and . All three are based loosely on the Strugatsky Brothers’ novel and its 1979 film adaptation, which was titled .

Earlier this year, it was revealed – again in a tweet – that will be powered by Unreal Engine and it was originally rumoured to have a release date of 2021, though that date has since disappeared from the official site.