EXBO has announced that its open-world extraction shooter STALCRAFT: X is being renamed STALZONE. The new name marks a fresh chapter for the game and arrives together with a wave of updates aimed at making the Zone easier to step into, better to look at, and more alive than ever before.
According to the press release, the rebrand is part of a series of major updates that EXBO began rolling out earlier this summer. Alongside the new name, the game is receiving visual upgrades, redesigned starting areas and missions, English voice acting, seasonal content, and improvements to several core gameplay systems.
One of the biggest changes is a complete overhaul of the early-game experience. New players will find updated starting locations and missions, improved tutorials, better game balance for PvP, and a wide range of quality-of-life improvements.
To make the world feel more alive, STALZONE now features dynamic weather, more realistic NPC behavior, and chat bubbles above players. Anomalies have also received visual improvements, and players now have a built-in detector to help locate them.
The summer season introduces military forces from the United States and South Korea to the Zone. Their arrival brings a new story campaign in which players face a dangerous enemy and earn valuable rewards. New open-world activities have also been added, including intelligence missions, supply deliveries, and other field operations across the Northern Zone.
The season’s main reward is the AAC Honey Badger assault rifle. It deals more damage than most assault rifles but has a shorter range, placing it between a submachine gun and an assault rifle in terms of performance.
The latest updates also improve the game’s visuals. Characters now have new face models, facial expressions, and lip-sync animations. These changes make story scenes and conversations feel more natural, especially when combined with the new English voice acting.
EXBO has also added a new lighting system based on real light sources. Indoor areas now look more realistic, and nighttime environments have greater depth and atmosphere. Campfires, lamps, and other light sources blend more naturally into the world.
Proximity voice chat is also on the way, allowing nearby players to talk to each other while exploring and surviving together. In addition, the game is receiving partial and later full English voice acting, making the story easier to follow for English-speaking players.
Later this summer, EXBO plans to expand the endgame experience even further. The team has already announced a new seasonal mode that will serve as an alternative to clan-based activities, giving players another way to test their skills and make use of their best gear.
Enjoy and stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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