Report: STALKER 2 dev shuts down
GSC, developer of the STALKER franchise, has been shut down according to numerous reports. While the studio is officially offering "no comment," multiple sources are confirming the closure of the studio.
GSC Game World, developer of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, has been shut down according to numerous reports. While the studio is officially offering "no comment," multiple sources are confirming the closure of the studio.
The Ukrainian team had been working on a follow-up to its FPS fan-favorite on a multi-platform engine, and was originally intended to ship in 2012. With the studio in shambles, the fate of the game is unclear--more likely than not, it is probably dead in its tracks.
"GSC is closed, a fact confirmed by all," 1c Ukraine’s Sergey Galenkin wrote in a (machine-translated) blog post. As publisher of the game in the region, 1c's report is likely to be the most accurate. "The team is almost completely dissolved," he added.
Galenkin blames the inability to license a console version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to publishers for the team's demise. Without the ability to self-publish on the consoles, a PC-only release with a limited global appeal would not have sold enough to be sustainable.
The official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Twitter account has been a source of conflicting information. At first, it had denied the news altogether--only to have that tweet deleted. Afterwards, Rock, Paper, Shotgun discovered a tweet from the community manager looking for work--which has since also been deleted. As it stands, the official Twitter account asks fans to "Help shape the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series! Take part in our polls!" This update was made just hours ago.
Galenkin believes that the confusion is caused by the fact that the person responsible for managing the Twitter account wasn't forewarned about the studio's closure.
With GSC refusing to respond to inquiries, it appears the reports are true. Stay tuned for any further updates.
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Shacknews
replyAndrew Yoon posted a new article, Report: STALKER 2 dev shuts down.
GSC, developer of the STALKER franchise, has been shut down according to numerous reports. While the studio is officially offering "no comment," multiple sources are confirming the closure of the studio.-
Well that sucks... can't believe they couldn't get an interested publisher for the console version.
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NooooOOOoooooo
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Fuck. I love those games. :(
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Load screens while walking around would be so immersive.
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Bethesda/Zenimax seems like a good fit. Granted they already have fallout but it seems like a franchise up their alley.
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Zenimax should buy it and id/Bethesda should co-develop.
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I liked STALKER but as far as graphics they're not that terribly far apart. If anything I think it would be cool if they picked up the IP and tried to rebuild the original studio. Otherwise I don't see anyone that could pick up the IP and make something even remotely close to the STALKER games.
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Least with Bethesda you end up with a nice set of mod tools getting released and almost anything they don't eventually fix themselves the mod community sorts out. There aren't many places that IP could go and have it still pretty much be STALKER. Otherwise it will probably end up being a linear as fuck FPS with most if not all of the RPG elements ripped out.
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get out of here
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that is really too bad. i guess ill have to run the first and third again now that i've got a better computer, and can take them in with better visuals. i really loved the games, and while the first is really unforgiving at first (giving you shitty gun and whatnot) it really gave a sense of progression as you get better equipment.
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imo, this is the worst closure announcement ever for pc gaming. I can only hope that their employees form a great new studio from the ashes, or that 4A hires some of these guys and their talent lives on through the Metro franchise.
Something tells me this isn't the last we hear of this story. From all I've read, GSC had money (http://www.agentix.org/en/r42/1913.html), a dedicated following (the STALKER book series is a big hit over there), and many current and future prospects (STALKER 2, the tv show, the clothing line).
They just didn't seem like a company that was in danger of shuttering up so quick.-
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Yeah, Dune 2000 was one of my greatest gaming addictions.
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I guess this is what happens because so many PC gamers either use Torrent or buy from Steam in the dollar sales.
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This times a millionhundred.
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Yeah I think so at least a portion of the folks that worked on the original Fallout games. .
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yeah Origin. also Bullfrog. Was there anything EA couldn't ruin?
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I remember playing Codename: Outbreak and seeing just how free-form combat could be -- this is pretty terrible to hear, but I agree with your point that there is more than the surface to this story.
Also now I want to hunt down the other stalker materials.
(And I should finally install Call of Pripyat)
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Hey just make a good PC game and it will sell well enough...
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I think it was a huge mistake for them to hinge anything on console deving. This was never going to be successful on consoles without a massive change of focus for the game and a staggering amount effort put into marketing. Console gamers have absolutely no idea this franchise exists (present company, and the "gaming community" people excluded, I mean the masses).
I remember when COP came out, there was a delay on getting it onto steam for some reason, so I just went up to my local gamestop to ask if they had the new STALKER game in. They were so fucking clueless, everyone in the store looked at me like i was asking for some obscure japanese rape simulator. That is not a joke, at all. im pretty sure they thought i was asking for a rape sim import called STALKER. I tried to explain to them what it was and they had no awareness of the game existing at all, nor did the two or 3 guys at the checkout buying whatever console game was the big shit at the time.
They had an impossible uphill battle getting this game onto consoles successfully, and im betting they hinged alot of money on the prospect, and it when it fell through they were fucked. -
dammit, this was my favorite series.
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No, It just wasn't your kind of game (and yeah, it was buggy at launch); but it was a very good game that did some cool things I'd like to see more of in FPS action titles.
There are plenty of good games I don't find appealing, but I wouldn't call them bad. Maybe I'm just weird like that. /shrug -
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woah.
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Opinions can be wrong, it's okay.
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i only got to play the first one, i really loved the atmosphere but hated the gun play
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I WONDER WHY
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IA mace
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Argh, this is horrible.
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Or possibly to save their asses, one last ditch super sale to save GSC
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Seriously. 2011 was an amazing year for pc gaming, and then...this....to cap it off :(
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I love Tripwire, and I've bought nearly all the KF dlc in support, but I'm not sure how you can say that with the huge PR battle they've had to wage with pitchfork wielding "fans" since the launch of RO2.
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Pretty much, it's been very disheartening to see how quickly a forum will turn on a dev and start outright insulting them. Worse still because Tripwire is a great developer and has frequently posted on the forums since release to talk to people and detail their development and update plans.
People were calling for their doom ever since they pushed back the game's release by two weeks. Totally ridiculous and disturbing that some people can have such a lack of regard for the future of their hobby and the people who labor to make it possible.-
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That's exactly why making RO2 in the first place was a mistake. The RO fanbase is perfectly happy playing RO1 until the end of time, and would accept no alterations to the gameplay. Meanwhile, it is nearly impossible to lure CoD and Battlefield fans away from those franchises in any meaningful way, especially with a new entry coming out every year or so for both to hook people back in.
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Honestly those type of gamers would probably bitch no matter what tripwire did.
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Tripwire got so much flak it is really disheartening.
RO1 fanboys are a nightmare, like recreating RO1 and having 60 sales would have been a good idea. Douchebags.
RO2 rocks, especially now after all the patches. Just need more maps.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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I never liked stalker, but your narrow minded view is pathetic.
It's not a good sign for the games industry, not a good sign for such games in general (whether you like them or not, even if you don't, someone else does) and definitely not a good sign for the people working in the industry.
So look past your tiny little frame for one second and think about what you are saying isn't a big deal-
seriously
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what a self important arse......get off the internet and get a life.
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Maybe if they focused on console and ported their game to PC would they still be around.
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How funny is it that this news is currently (12/09/11) is coupled with news of Duke Nukem Forever DLC.
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Terrible news :(
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Horrible news.
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I'm hoping the Russian mod community can fill in. I've seen projects to convert Crysis and ArmA to STALKER.
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"...blames the inability to license a console version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to publishers for the team's demise. Without the ability to self-publish on the consoles, a PC-only release with a limited global appeal would not have sold enough to be sustainable." Sorry but that is total horse crap. How did game companies survive BEFORE consoles? They just want to make games for cheaper and get more money. SSDS (Same Shit Different Story)
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and yet they didn't have a problem with the previous 3 PC only titles. Correlation is not causation and all that, but they didn't implode until they tried to expand to consoles. It might not have been the move that killed them, but it sure as hell wasn't the move that saved them either
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Uhh, who says they didn't have a problem? Did you not see the developer implode just now? Generally speaking you don't have a problem if your previous efforts manage to pay for your next ones, that a basic landmark for a self sustaining, properly functioning business, and they didn't manage that. So I don't see what there is to argue about here.
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they lasted long enough to publish two more games after the first Stalker. It clearly wasn't terrible there immediately. Yeah might have been bad shortly thereafter though. Focus on the last bit though "it may not have been what killed them but it sure as hell wasn't what saved them". I don't see how, in retrospect, it can be argued that trying for the console market was a good move for them when the company did in fact implode
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The last stalker game sold pretty poorly, and was pirated a ton. You do the math.
Console versions of games that are also available on PC sell at a 10:1 ratio quite frequently because piracy is less of a concern on consoles. You have to mod your console to pirate -- and you lose your XBLA accesss - most users ARENT willing to do that.-
I heard it sold over two million, which if I recall correctly is higher than the previous games.
Not to mention its a PC centric game that would be tough to market to consoles (no fan base, more of a hardcore title, would need a team with console dev experience). Also of interest is that some of their key markets (Europe/Eastern Europe) are actually PC dominated markets.
I'm not sure selling to consoles would be as easy as people are suggesting, though I agree it could be a strong revenue stream and I can see why they looked into it.
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For fuck sakes
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I own 2 copies of every the Stalker series. I bought Pripyat from the US (im Canadian) just so I could get it because no where in Canada knew when they were going to get it (at huge expense). I love the Stalker and have played them all. I hope they can some how make it work. If we lose the Stalker series it will be a huge video game tragedy. Stalker isnt just another shooter, its a gem among a sea of bleak hip shooter with the same story. As soon as I heard about Stalker 2 I was excited, even though I knew it would be 2 years+ away. The stalker series actually gave me a goal in life, one day im going to Chernobyl/ Pripyat and taking the tours that they have there.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo! I feel for them. I was really looking forward to the next installment.
