S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has been a long time coming. Not only have fans been waiting for a follow-up to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl since 2007 but an unexpected event further delayed developer GSC Game World’s plans: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Kyiv, Ukraine-based developers have been transparent on social media about all the violence and world-upending situations that have caused the game to be delayed out of its original 2022 release window. Their story has since been compiled into War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, a 97-minute documentary about struggle, war, and determination that’s now available on YouTube. You can watch it above.
The documentary starts out with a history of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and the studio, but then transitions into how the war afffected both development and the lives of the team members. At first they didn’t think Russian President Vladimir Putin would go so far as to attack Ukraine, but CEO Ievgen Grygorovych and his wife, executive producer Mariia Grygorovych, made plans to evacuate team members on buses to Uzhhorod, a town in western Ukraine within 50 kilometers of a theoretically secure NATO border. Buses were booked and parked outside the offices with drivers 24/7, ready to transport employees, their families, and some former staff to relative safety.
Mariia said they didn’t tell the team at first about the buses to not cause a panic. “I doubted myself and wondered if I hadn’t lost my mind,” she says in the documentary. The team had had very different thoughts about what they would do in the event of an invasion. Some knew they would be staying to volunteer and join the military, and many just wanted to keep working on the game.
In total, the team transported 183 employees, their families, and former staff and set up stays in a hotel. The other 139 declined and stayed in Kyiv. In February 2022, the team were all called into the office on a Sunday at 6 a.m. While Russia hadn’t officially attacked Ukraine yet, they all packed up essentials, wrangled their family members (including children), dropped off pets, and went to Uzhhorod for a stay at a hotel.
Not too long after the evacuation, Russia launched its attack on Kyiv, which was way closer than they anticipated. One developer in Kyiv said he was set to go and get his newborn child’s passport paperwork when the attack began. Another said he felt like a “traitor” because his mother refused to leave. “Subconsciously, we were all ready to die,” one developer named Alina says.
Mariia and Ievgen took people willing to evacuate to nearby Hungary from the hotel, while others stayed to fight, but that was easier said than done. The border was only open until 6 p.m., so much of the team had to travel by foot through the Ukrainian winter weather to cross.
Following the start of the war, many of the developers wondered if they’d even go back to working on the game. Their equipment, including a huge motion capture studio, was stuck in Kyiv. Some didn’t have access to internet or could communicate with the outside world. One concept artist, Anton, was stuck in his basement and took to continue development on pen and paper. However, the team set up a new office in Prague, recast their actors, set up spaces for the developers still in Ukraine to work and stay warm. They eventually showcased what they had at Gamescom 2023, but due to a mediocre reception, delayed the game into early 2024. It was delayed again into September, and is now eyeing a November launch.
Digital Trends has since played a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 preview, and by all accounts, it seems like it’ll be worth the wait.