Delayed by war, Ukraine’s long-awaited ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’ surges to the top of video game purchases

More than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion delayed its release and upended its developers’ lives, Ukraine’s “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2” — one of the most anticipated video games of the year — was released on Nov. 20.

Employees of GSC Game World, the Ukrainian company behind its creation, completed the game while navigating blackouts, missile strikes, scattered employees, and the challenge of restarting operations from a new office in Prague.

Originally set for a release in April 2022, the game experienced several delays when many of its staff were forced to flee Ukraine that February. Ahead of the release this week, presales of the game took it to the top spot for games sold on the popular video game platform Steam.

Like the 2007 original in the series, which has been played by millions, “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2”: Heart of Chornobyl is a first-person immersive shooter game set in a fictionalized version of Chornobyl’s exclusion zone after an apocalyptic nuclear disaster.

The war affected more than just the timing of the game’s release. After the full-scale invasion, the game’s name was changed to use the Ukrainian spelling of Chornobyl, instead of the Russian version, “Chernobyl.” GSC Game World also removed Russian voiceovers and has refused to sell the game in Russia.

The game developers have spoken about facing Russian threats and frequent hacking attempts because of their decisions.

'I switched to drawing on paper'

In a documentary about the game’s creation released in October, Anton Kukhtytskyi, the game’s lead concept artist, described his first weeks of the full-scale war. For two weeks, he had no electricity, internet, or connection outside his village. He had no idea if the rest of his family had survived.

“Sitting in that cellar with my wife and my cats, I felt like I was abandoned. But like a ‘stalker,’ you have to learn how to live in such situation,” Kukhtytskyi said. “I switched to drawing on paper, so I didn’t stop developing.”

After many of the staff relocated to Prague, they had to completely recast their voice-actors, since many had gone to fight, relocated, or fallen out of communication. Additionally, the staff had fled without their equipment and had to build new motion capture and audio recording studios from scratch, according to the film.

A significant portion of the staff still remains in Ukraine.

Because of the developers’ vocal support for Ukrainian armed forces and the content of the game, a Russian official suggested this month that purchases of the game in Russia could be criminalized after its release. (While GSC Game World products are not officially available in Russia, users have reported workarounds online.)

Prior to the full-scale invasion, Ukraine was home to hundreds of video game companies and an estimated tens of thousands of Ukrainian video game developers.

GSC Game World was founded in Kyiv in 1995 and is one of the oldest and most prominent video game developers in the country. In addition to “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.,” the company is known for its “Cossacks” strategy game franchise.

Since 2020, the company is co-owned by Maksym Krippa, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman who has kept a low profile and mostly avoided public attention.

Krippa’s career is reportedly connected with casinos and gambling businesses, though GSC Game World distanced itself from his former activities, stating his portfolio no longer holds gambling companies.

In the past several years, Krippa has built up significant stakes in online gaming and real estate, including the 2018 purchase of Ukraine’s major e-sports league NAVI and a subsequent deal to become co-owner of Maincast, an e-sports broadcasting studio.  

He made headlines recently with real estate purchases of the Parus business center in Kyiv last year, which Forbes Ukraine dubbed “the largest deal since the start of the full-scale war,” and purchases of major hotels in downtown Kyiv.

Glowing letters advertising “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2” topped the Parus business center ahead of the game’s release.

“S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2” is available on Xbox and PC.

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