Fan site Oblivion-Lost.de has six new screenshots from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, which is apparently really being released next year. The site will have a full writeup soon.

It's been a while, but IGN has a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Q&A. THQ's Dean Sharpe is asked why the game has taken so long to develop, and changes that have bene made.

It's certainly been a while since we saw some new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl media, so here are a few night-time screenshots.

A new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadows of Chernobyl Q&A has surfaced at FiringSquad. Oleg V. Yavorsky of GSC Game World is asked about the game's lengthy development time, mixing action and RPG elements, game missions, weapons, multiplayer features, graphics and demo plans.

GameSpot and IGN have been updated with new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl previews, offering impressions of the oft-delayed first person shooter.

The official GSC Game World forums have a post by the company's Oleg Yavorsky, responding to rumors of the game being cut down. Post E3 articles had mentioned the possible removal of vehicles, sleeping, required eating and other features.

Over at the GSC Game World forums there's a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Q&A, answering 21 fan sumitted questions. Topics include the release date, rifles, RPG-style weapon modifications, camera settings, and NPC languages.

Fan site Oblivion-Lost.com has a letter from GSC Game World's Oleg Yavorsky, responding to a question about the recently announced delay until 2007. According to Yavorsky the game is in beta, but THQ wants additional testing and fixing and its up to them when they deem it fit for release. Thanks Blues News.

As part of the conference call discussing their third quarter fiscal year 2006 results, THQ announced that the Gas Powered Games strategy game Supreme Commander and GSC Game World's action game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl will not be released during 2006. Instead both titles are scheduled for THQ's fourth quarter of the 2007 fiscal year, which means the games should see the light of day sometime between January and March 2007. Thanks GameCloud.

GSC Game World updated the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl site refuting yesterday's report that the game is in big trouble. This is what the developer had to say (thanks Blues News)

1. The project is on the stage of beta approval and is being actively developed in close cooperation with the publisher.
2. The team has undergone certain reductions, particularly in the art section, due to all the graphics-related works being almost complete (out of 40 people 5 were dismissed). None of the leads, programmers and moreover, testers may not be reduced at any time. 3. Regarding the technology leak, none of the designers gone has the rights to the game's engine (all the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
technologies, including the X-Ray engine and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-2 engine belong to the company). Even if the current or next-generation engine would appear on the net, their legal use is impossible. GSC does not intend to sell its technologies in the nearest time, so as does not intend to postpone the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl due to rumours of that kind.

Not much of a surprise here but according to Gameguru Mania (translating a Russian article by Gamemag.ru) S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl could be in trouble. The article mentions that when publisher THQ signed the game it still wasn't much than a set of ideas instead of an actual game, and that even though it doesn't seem to be anywhere near completion THQ wants it out this year. THQ is also supposedly looking into giving the project to someone else if GSC Game World is unable to finish the project. The story also mentions considerable layoffs at the developer. Neither company commented.

GSC on the current Situation on fan site Oblivion-Lost.com offers an update on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, the GSC Game World action game which keeps getting delayed. Lead designer Andrew Prokhorov writes about the work done so far and the things that are left to be done.

Holla at a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. interview! Oblivion-Lost.com has translated a Q&A by stalker-portal.ru, where they talked to senior PR manager Oleg Yavorsky. Questions are about mini-games, the Smart Terrain System, blowouts, game zones, and multiplayer modes.

There hasn't been a lot of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. news lately, and that's mostly because the game is still ways off. The latest news is that we'll see the game some time in 2006.

THQ sent out a couple of new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl screenshots, showing a few indoor and outdoor locations.

A DirectX 9.1 video is available as well.

Oblivion-Lost.com has posted the latest S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl Q&A, asking the GSC Game World team about the release date, 64-bit support, multiplayer map size, AI, weapon sounds and a few other topics.

The Oblivion-Lost.com forums have a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Q&A, translated from the Russian site Kamrad. Questions are about development time left, plans to release DX9 screenshots, beta testing and trailer plans.

There's also a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl Q&A on HC.Gamer, with Oleg Yavorsky on hand to answer questions about this post-apocalyptic shooter.

According to the German THQ news page, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl has been delayed once again. The game has suffered multiple release slips already, and is no longer expected to be released this May. GSC Game World PR manager Oleg Yavorsky is quoted as saying the developer is happy to be granted extra development time by publisher THQ, and they will use the extra time to make sure the game lives up to the expectations of the fans.

Oblivion-Lost.com has five new screenshots from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, showing a couple of random locations from the game.