PlayStation players will be heading to the exclusion zone on November 20th as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl will be released on the platform after its successful launch on Xbox and PC. But what makes the game impressive is not just how well-crafted it is (with some rough edges); it’s the behind-the-scenes story of the perseverance of the game’s developer, GSC Game World.
GSC Game World is a Ukrainian game developer that developed the popular S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series based on Arkady & Boris Strugatsky‘s novel Roadside Picnic, which was eventually adapted into the film Stalker in 1979. So, as you can already guess, with the invasion of Ukraine, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl almost didn’t see the light of day…almost.
When the fires of war burn, the grit of entertainers is forged. GSC Game World split up their team, with one staying in Kyiv and one establishing a new office in Prague. Bombings, blackouts, and relocations plagued the Kyiv team as they continued to work on the game, but things were not so rosy for the Prague team as well. In 2023, a fire broke out on the floor of the building where the GSC Game World Prague office was located, destroying one of the backup servers. Investigations into the fire pointed to it being electrical. This was on top of constant Russian cyber attacks by hackers trying to disrupt development.
Even with the setbacks that made it look and feel like the universe was against them, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl was released and sold over a million copies in two days! Because of this, Maksym (Maxim) Krippa, GSC’s owner, has said that the sales have turned a profit and even recouped losses, and has allowed the team to begin hiring again as more content is coming to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (a couple of expansions and adding a multiplayer mode).
With subtle statements being made, like choosing the Ukrainian spelling of Chornobyl in the title, and not supporting Russian localization, GSC serves as a shining example of how game development should be: getting a project done no matter what, damming the potential backlash by taking the moral high ground, and just staying true to the mission of entertaining.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is out now on Xbox and PC, with the PlayStation release coming November 20th.
