Stalker 2, whose development was halted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is one of those rare games that has a compelling story. The studio was essentially rebuilt from scratch in Prague after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"Subconsciously, all of us were ready to die," says Alina, a GSC developer, in a new documentary called War Game. The film was released to mark the tumultuous journey that led to the release of this game on November 20, 2018. In a section that details devs' memories of the day Russian troops crossed Ukraine's border we see footage of Ukrainians running into their basements while missiles rain down from above. Another dev recalls, "I remember the alarm that we heard in Kyiv. It was quite a frightening feeling." The scariest part was knowing that you could lose your life if this alarm sounded.
The document also details the many ways that the invasion affected GSC before it even happened. Even as early as December 20,21, some company executives were planning evacuation routes to the west of the nation and out of Kyiv, in the event Russia did indeed follow through with its apparent ambition of conquering Ukraine.
Mariia Grygorovych, from GSC, says: "I thought Putin wouldn't start a conflict with NATO." "Which meant that missiles shouldn't land within 50km of NATO borders." Grygorovych, along with other senior GSC staff, began secretly formulating plans so as to not panic staff. They planned to move everyone from Uzhhorod, which is right on the Ukraine-Slovakian Border, in the event of war. Grygorovych recalls that in January, buses were booked and parked outside offices 24 hours a day. "At first, we didn't inform the team of these buses. We didn't want people to be scared.
On February 20, just a few days before the invasion, the studio used those buses to move over 180 developers (though more than a hundred refused even to leave Kyiv despite the risk of war). Four days later, Russian forces rolled into Prague, starting a long rebuilding process for GSC, which is also detailed in the documentary.
Grygorovych says, "We had everything to start over from scratch." This included recasting actors that had fought the invasion. "The game is now a form of resistance for us."
The full documentary is available on the Xbox and GSC channels on YouTube.
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