Recently, I had the chance to watch the documentary WAR GAME: The Making of STALKER 2 by GSC GameWorld and Xbox. This documentary tells the story of the challenges faced by the developers during the creation of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl as Ukraine, where GSC GameWorld is based, found itself at war with Russia. What stood out to me throughout was a deep sense of camaraderie among the team and a company that truly cares about its employees.
When you hear the Lead producer Mariia Grygorovych talking about how she made plans to move staff and their families months in advance. Should the worst happen, they hired coaches that were outside the studio 24/7 ready to move people closer to the border. We get to see several developers talk about the fear they felt in this time, as 139 staff members opted to stay in the city of Kyiv. For the 180 staff that did go with their families to the western border, they spoke on the anxiety of that journey, not knowing what the future held.
As the documentary continues, we learn about the developers’ experiences during the first days of the war. Some joined the armed forces, while others tried to leave Kyiv but found themselves unable to escape. Many team members lost contact with family members who had stayed behind.
When the day came for the developers who traveled to the border to leave their country, the emotional toll was heavy. One team member stepped off the coach, choosing to stay, while others expressed feelings of guilt for leaving their families and homeland behind. Many developers, including Mariia Grygorovych, eventually relocated to a new studio space in Prague, Czech Republic, to continue working on the game. However, this move presented significant challenges. Not only was the team split, but they also lacked a motion capture studio and had to recast the entire game.
Despite the war, some team members who stayed behind continued working on the game however they could, from sketching character designs on paper to turning the original studio into a safe haven where people could charge their devices or stay warm.
STALKER 2 was eventually made playable to the public at Gamescom 2023, receiving a somewhat mixed reception. Some people loved the game, others hated it according to several developers in the documentary. This ultimately led to another delay in the months following Gamescom 2023 after multiple previous delays.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is now set to release on November 20th, 2024, and one thing is clear to me. For the developers at GSC GameWorld this game is made out of love for creativity and Ukraine but more than that, it is made as a symbol of hope in the dark. I can’t begin to imagine what it has taken to make STALKER 2 but I can see the love poured into the game throughout this documentary. I highly recommend that you watch it.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl will be released on November 20, 2024, for Xbox and PC.
