Despite being one of the biggest Unreal Engine 5 games ever, Stalker 2's locations are almost entirely hand-crafted: 'It took a lot of time, took a lot of effort, but we're happy with the result'
I think it was partially to make the statement more sensational, because 60 sq km is ~23 sq miles, so it barely makes the top 30 biggest games by map size (as of some 2023 articles)
I haven't been this hyped about a game coming out since Borderlands 2 was announced. Really hoping it lives up to it; I've been on a GAMMA binge recently and really am just hoping it comes close to the same vibe but now on UE5