GSC Game World has released a minor update for the Stalker Enhanced Trilogy, which removes the ads previously displayed in the main menus. While the patch primarily focuses on crash fixes and minor tweaks, this quiet change addresses a long-standing issue that has been a source of annoyance among fans.
For those unfamiliar, the Stalker Enhanced Trilogy comprises remastered versions of the original X-Ray Engine games, released last May. Since then, GSC has been regularly updating these remasters, addressing issues such as blurry graphics and missing models. However, one irritant stuck around: each game’s start screen featured a small section advertising other Stalker titles, including Stalker 2. This felt out of place, especially since the original games never had marketing cluttering their menus.
Many players found these ads unnecessary, especially if they already owned the other games. A popular Steam Workshop mod emerged to remove these ads, showing just how much players wanted a cleaner menu experience. Now, with patch 1.1.1, GSC has quietly removed these ads from the menus entirely—without even mentioning it in the official patch notes.
It’s a small change, but one that fans can appreciate. Ads in main menus can feel intrusive, and seeing them gone might make the games feel a bit more like the originals. I wonder why this change wasn’t highlighted more? Perhaps because the rest of the patch was pretty mundane, mainly addressing crash fixes and minor details hardly worth a mention.
Honestly, it’s refreshing to see GSC responding to fan feedback, even in subtle ways. The company has had its share of criticism, especially around the launch of Stalker 2—which, yes, was buggy at release. But the overall impression I have from following the series for over 15 years is that they genuinely care about their games and community. Perhaps this small patch will help mitigate some of the online noise. I’m an optimist, after all.
