It’s looking like Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s release in Russia is mostly on pause.
As first spotted on Resetera, Ukraine-based developer GSC Game World announced Monday on social media site YK that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl will no longer be sold in Russia. Existing digital pre-orders will still be honored, but physical copies and potential future sales won’t be released in the region.
“We are developers from Ukraine. And it will always be so,” GSC Game World’s statement reads.
The studio will refund any Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl pre-orders within Russia for the foreseeable future. This news comes not long after GSC Game World changed the game’s subtitle to reflect the Ukrainian spelling of Chernobyl.
GSC Game World has been very outspoken about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even sharing a short developer diary explaining that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s development is on hold for now.
Ukraine’s vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for the entire games industry to stop supporting Russia last week. Since then, Xbox, PlayStation, CD Projekt Red, Electronic Arts, and more are severing ties with Russia until the conflict is over.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
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