• News

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 video shows devs caught in and fighting in Ukraine conflict

GSC Game World's latest has been delayed to next year, which is understandable given that some of the Ukrainian development team are literally fighting against invading Russian forces.

Ozzie Mejia

June 14, 2022 1:25 PM

1

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a harrowing several months for those on the ground. That includes the team at GSC Game World, which was caught directly in the sights of Russian forces. Towards the end of Tuesday's Xbox + Bethesda Games Showcase Extended presentation, viewers got to take a closer look at exactly what the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 development team has had to face up close. It's a conflict that has taken developers into volunteer roles and even to the front lines.

Over the course of a three-minute video package, viewers were presented with frightening imagery of a country under siege. Team members like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Lead AI Developer Dmytro Iassenev, Community Manager Oleksii Ivanov, and Narrative Designer Maksym Hnatkov can be seen directly engaging in the conflict, donning camo and carrying heavy weapons. They're just a few of the developers involved in the war, as the video ends noting that some of the team were not included due to safety concerns. Other team members that are not directly fighting against Russian aggression are taking part in the conflict in volunteer roles, helping aid those affected.

It's a sobering picture of a very real world conflict intersecting with the gaming. Somehow, even in spite of all of this, the development team is attempting to carry on with its work. Back in January, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was delayed to December, though given the understandable circumstances, that release date has been pushed back to a nebulous 2023 window. With that said, the dev team did issue a new trailer.

We'll keep an eye on what's happening with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl in the months ahead. Keep it on Shacknews for the latest updates.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?