STALKER 2: the hell of the Russian invasion denounced in video by the developers | Xbox One

It’s the kind of video you never see, let alone at a video game conference. And yet, we are talking here about the impact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have had on Ukrainian developers. The GSC Game World studio being located in the center of kyiv, it was highlighted by Xbox to present how the war impacted the lives of the members of their teams, and at the same time the development of the game. .

The development of STALKER 2 disrupted like never before

The video contains images that may be disturbing, but these nevertheless represent the reality of what happened, and what is still happening at this very moment in Ukraine where Russia continues to bombard certain parts of the country.

Usually, Dev Diary type videos show us how characters are created, or game stories are crafted. But for GSC Game World, everything was turned upside down when Russia decided to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The video thus shows what happened when the development of STALKER 2 was fully launched and the motion capture had already started well. We see the buildings completely destroyed by the bombs just a few hundred meters from the studio in kyiv, and the relocation of the developers and their families.

But the studio also recalls that some have not had the opportunity to leave the city. Some have decided to continue working in disastrous conditions, and others have decided to go and defend their country, all punctuated by the sirens announcing the imminent bombardments.

As narrative designer Dariia Tsepkova explains, creating violent quests for the game is no easy feat when war is right below your window. The studio specifies that many of their members joined the Ukrainian armed forces to defend their country, with supporting images, and that some were unable to testify for obvious security reasons.

For the moment, the release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is scheduled for next year, without further details, and we understand even more why today.

It has been 111 days since war broke into the home of every Ukrainian. She is still there, reaping the harvest of crime and sorrow. And yet, we fight back with the conviction of victory.

Helping Ukraine is a good deed in which everyone can participate. We are sincerely grateful to those who have already contributed and encourage those who have the capacity to help Ukraine through the fundraising platform launched by the initiative of the President of Ukraine: https://u24.gov.ua/.