This is painful to admit, but... I do this as well. Even if it is trivial, and even if they aren't actually speaking the dialect native to the setting, but are instead speaking English with the accent of that dialect (which sounds like a silly thing to not purchase a game over), it does make a big difference to me regarding the immersion. The smooth Russian narrator in Black Book or the voice lines in Stronghold (one) gave them a lot of charm, and its one of the reasons why I was anticipating the release of the Australian Broken Roads. When a lot of media translated into English becomes a homogenised with a standard language, which is a reasonable decision to make as it allows as mant people as possible to comprehend your product, it can become tired rather quickly. That specificity in the creation process gets a bonus from me.

In order of preference, I would prefer the native tongue with subtitles, then the accent of the depicted people speaking in English, and last a translation and voiceover in the accent of the expected consumer (American English normally.)

But here's the kicker. Would I be more lenient regarding this criticism if the standard language of choice was my own personal accent, British English? ...Almost certainly yes. The incongruence would be less overt if this were the case. I can admit the slight hypocrisy in my stance. But in knowing my bias, I can consciously try to be more true to the principle.

I wouldnt. English is a language of accents, so without at least (some) localised regional accuracy (hell, in this case I'd take "eastern european" over "north american" - fugg! - I'd take a south american accent over it!) immersion is totally lost.

But as a further point, if they are watering down the games setting / immersion like that, I dread to think what else has happened in development to get sales. :/

Scar Trailer

"A man who once survived the Emissions, turned the tides of the faction wars, and witnessed the rise of Clear Sky! Now, he stands nearly alone against the oppression of free Stalkers. Could there ever be a better guide to the Shining Side of the Zone, where eternal spring and a new home await us?
The chance to ignite the Spark is near."

War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Documentary

"War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a story about the game development and about the people behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. It’s about the challenges we faced in continuing the development."

It is "just" Xbox exclusive on consoles, at least for a good time (not sure it will stay forever... not known yet); this is all what MS was "capable" of because lets be honest... if this is MS store and Xbox only... they may get about 95% lesser sales, not gonna work!

The best platforms to release stuff at are GOG (if you do not agree, keep shut), PS5 and Steam from a "economical perspective". EGS could be considered as well, which is actually the case. I did not bring up Nintendo because making this game work on the Switch (even Switch 2 would be difficult) is just insane, it would not be the same game anymore. As well... this kind of games is not in high demand on the Switch (no matter if they make it happen).

MS, sadly... is not the first thing gamers may use, and MS surely paid some good coins for having some limited console-exclusivity.

They surely are asking a "big price" for the best editions... but on GOG the best edition is "only" the digital Ultimate edition, although it got all the digital-content, simply not the physical goodies from the most expensive version available for preorder. Yet, this preorder has been sold out almost instantly for Xbox and Steam, sadly no GOG version available, it would be possible, at least in my country (did not check other countries, but i expect a comparable situation). The price of the physical "Ultimate Edition", was 349 CHF in my country, with many goodies included, which makes it one of the most expensive game-versions ever.

The digital Ultimate Edition is still around 124 CHF on GOG, for me, but in my mind... taken into account it is with all future content included, it may be worth it. Still, i would never pay such a price if it is not DRM free on the PC, thats clear to me.

It is not the most expensive game-version ever paid on GoG, this "record" is still being hold by the "The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie" which comes at 184 CHF (212 USD)°°, thanks to the greed of NIS. Compared to this Stalker 2 is almost a bargain, so i actually made a rare preorder. °°I still enjoy to support this series on GOG but i guess not anymore at above 100 due to different reasons.