At an industry event in San Francisco, publisher THQ announced GSC Game World's S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: shadow of Chernobyl has finally shipped to manufacturers for production, bringing a development cycle that spanned seven (!) years to a close.

As for GSC Game World's future plans, they're not saying anything specific, other than their team is really excited to get their product out into the public's hands after such a long time. They did hint that an expansion would be likely, but provided no details on when it might come out of what it would include. via ign.