What changed: STALZONE opened an Open Test Server (OTS) on 16 October 2026, giving invited EU and RU players a two-day window to try reworked wide-range detectors, squad-based matchmaking and inventory item locking before those systems reach the main server. Why it matters: Squad-based matchmaking splits solo players, duos and three-plus squads into separate location instances — a change that decides who you run into in the open world, and one the studio is still gathering feedback on. Who should care: STALZONE players in the EU and RU regions who hunt signals or play in squads, and anyone tracking how extraction shooters balance solo runs against group play.
A two-day window and a short guest list
EXBO’s announcement states its purpose plainly: “OTS stands for Open Test Server. Here, you gain access to early versions of major updates.” That definition matters, because this round is not a public demo. Access goes to “a limited number of players who actively participated in signal searching or frequently played in squads with other players,” and the post adds that the server “is open for EU and RU players only.”
The testing period is short: October 16, 2026, 15:00 (UTC) to October 18, 2026, 20:59 (UTC) — roughly two and a half days. EXBO warns that the test server “may be stopped or restarted for changes anytime,” so a session can end without notice.
Getting in depends on how you play. EXBO Launcher users who have access see a separate server listed for download — STALZONE OTS — and can install it directly. Steam players instead look for an in-game message from System, titled “OTS invitation: WRD, squad-based matchmaking, and item locking in inventory,” sent to their most recently active character. The announcement is explicit that if that message is not there, the account was not selected.
There is a trap on Steam worth knowing about before anyone queues an update. The beta branch is downloadable by everyone, including players who were never on the participant list. EXBO’s own warning is that this “could lead to a situation where you waste bandwidth downloading but are unable to participate in testing,” and it recommends using the EXBO Launcher to reach the test server even for players who normally play through Steam. Steam login itself remains supported.
What the server is testing
Three systems are under review at once, and the announcement frames each one as something testers should judge by feel rather than by patch note.
| System | What changed on the OTS | How testers are asked to try it |
|---|---|---|
| Wide-range detectors | An NPC near the Bar spawn hands out all in-game WRDs plus the Buryat SRD, and starts a story quest to find Kaa | Complete the detector challenges and judge how the new WRDs feel in practice |
| Squad-based matchmaking | Separate location instances for solo players, duos and squads of three or more | Complete clearing-event challenges at a chosen squad size |
| Inventory item locking | Item locking is live on the test server | Lock frequently used items, then play the open world and note friction or bugs |
Wide-range detectors: a free kit and doubled signals
The detector pass is the most concrete of the three. Every player who logs into the OTS spawns at the Pervomaisky Factory Bar, where an NPC “will provide all in-game WRDs and Buryat SRD” and “will also start a story quest to find Kaa using the Detector.” That means no unlock grind stands between a tester and the reworked detectors — the test is about how they behave, not about earning them.
To give those detectors something to find, EXBO has doubled signal spawn rates on five zones: Polesskoye, The Path of Fools, Mines, Inflow and Forge-11. Players are asked to complete the related challenges and to “pay attention to how the new WRDs feel in practice.”
The reward ladder names the specific devices under test: the SAC-1, the SAC-2 and the PIONEER-3 Wide Range Detector.
Squad-based matchmaking: solo, duo and three-plus, kept apart
The matchmaking change is the headline of the round, and it is a structural split rather than a tuning tweak. The OTS “has added separate location instances for” three groups, per the announcement: solo players, duo squads, and squads with three or more players. The key sentence is that “all these categories will play separately from each other.”
In practice, that means an OTS instance will not mix a lone signal-hunter with a five-player squad. The open world content testers are pointed at is clearing events: to exercise the system, players complete relevant clearing-event challenges while playing in specific squad sizes.
A separate note applies to the squad challenges: every member has to be in the same location for the events to count.
Inventory item locking
The third system is quieter but touches everyday play. “Item locking in inventory is now live on the server,” the announcement says. Testers are told to “lock the items you use frequently and play in the open world, paying attention to your user experience and any bugs you encounter.” Locking is a guard against accidentally vendoring, dropping or scrapping gear you mean to keep, so the feedback EXBO is fishing for here is about friction in the interface, not about balance.
The reward ladder
Progress on the OTS pays out on the main server. Rewards for completed challenges “will be sent to the main server and credited to the appropriate characters within 30 business days after OTS ends,” so nothing earned during the test has to be chased before the server closes.
| Challenge | Reward |
|---|---|
| Find 25 signals with the SAC-1 | 1 Changing Serum · 5 Unstable Anomalous Batteries · 1 Fishie Crate |
| Find 25 signals with the SAC-2 | 1 Changing Serum · 5 Unstable Anomalous Batteries · 1 Fishie Crate |
| Find 25 signals with the PIONEER-3 Wide Range Detector | 1 Changing Serum · 5 Unstable Anomalous Batteries · 1 Fishie Crate |
| Find 50 signals in the Path of Fools, Polesskoye, Mines, Inflow and Forge-11 | 1 Fishie Crate · 10 Catalysts · 1,000 Season Points |
| Scan for and find 100 signals | 10 Catalysts · 3 Anomalous Champagne · 1,000 Season Points |
| Complete the “Receiver” quest and find Kaa | 1 Fishie Crate · 5 Unstable Anomalous Batteries · 1,000 Season Points |
| Complete 100 events as a two-player squad | 2 Fishie Crates · 10 Catalysts · 3,500 Season Points |
| Complete 100 events as a squad of three to five players | 2 Fishie Crates · 10 Catalysts · 3,500 Season Points |
| Complete all OTS challenges | 2 Changing Serums · 2 Fishie Crates · 3 Unforgettable Cocktails · 2,000 Season Points |
Caveats: a gear snapshot and open locations
Anyone stepping onto the OTS should know that the character they bring is frozen at a point in time. “On the OTS, your character will have the gear they had at the moment they were added to the testing participant list,” the post says, and progress does not move between servers — “everything you do with items on OTS stays there.” A player who has been upgrading since being pulled into the program tests with the older loadout.
The available locations are broad for a two-day test: The Bar, The Forest, The Pit, Pervomaisky Factory, The Path of Fools, Polesskoye, Professor Solyannikov’s story location, Mines, Inflow, Forge-11 and the Northern factionfaction. An in-game group or nation players can align with or fight against, with its own goals and reputation system. bases. All players spawn at the Pervomaisky Factory Bar.
Bugs go to EXBO Support at support.exbo.net/en; the announcement also points to prepared guides for filing tickets across mechanics, world-map, quest and other bug types. General feedback is collected on the studio’s Discord.
Where this fits
STALZONE is not a new game. The Steam store page describes it as “the PvPvE extraction shooter where you don’t have to start over,” set in a Chernobyl Exclusion Zone divided between rival factions and free to play, while the official site carries the line that “STALCRAFT: X is becoming STALZONE.” The squad-versus-solo question the OTS is poking at is the same one every extraction shooter now has to answer — our breakdown of ARC Raiders, Tarkov and Delta Force covers how differently they price dying and grouping.
The test also ran alongside a separate competitive push. On 14 October 2026, STALZONE posted an open season for its Coliseum ranked ladder, with access windows listed for EU (CEST), NA (EDT) and SEA/NEA (GMT+8 / KST) — a PvP counterpart to the open-world systems under test on the OTS.