Tag: Stalker 2

GSC Game World resumes work on Stalker 2

Development was briefly on pause after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Work on Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is reportedly underway again. 

On Friday, GSC Game World community representative Mol1t told fans via Discord that “it continues,” in response to a question regarding Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl‘s development (Thanks, GRYOnline). So there’s a chance it could still meet that release date of Dec. 8, 2022. Not sure I would bank on that given the circumstances, though.

On March 2, 2022, the Ukraine-based developer announced Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl‘s development was on hold via YouTube.

“On (Feb. 24, 2022), Russia declared war on Ukraine and sent rockets, tanks, and soldiers to our Homeland,” GSC Game World’s statement reads. “Now we are striving to help our employees and their families to survive. The game’s development (has) shifted to the sidelines, but we will continue.”

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Since then, GSC Game World has relocated from Kyiv to Prague, Czech Republic, making it possible for production to resume. The studio changed Stalker 2‘s subtitle to reflect the Ukrainian of “Chornobyl” while also stopping pre-orders in Russia. 

Other companies within the games industry, such as Square Enix, Humble Bundle, CD Projekt Red, PlayStation, Xbox, and many others, are either suspending sales in Russia or providing humanitarian relief aid for Ukraine through charitable donations.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Stalker 2 isn’t being sold in Russia anymore

GSC Game World stands behind its home country of Ukraine.

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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Stalker 2’s subtitle changed to Ukrainian spelling of ‘Chornobyl’

Development is on pause for the foreseeable future.

Stalker 2’s official subtitle is now “Heart of Chornobyl,” reflecting the Ukrainian spelling of Chernobyl.

GSC Game world, the Ukraine-based studio behind Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, quietly changed the title recently on Steam. It’s unclear when this happened, but one eagle-eyed fan on Resetera noticed rename on Monday. As PCGamesN notes, many English transliterations of locations in Ukraine are derived from Russian rather than Ukrainian. Thus, the swap from “Chernobyl” to “Chornobyl” in Stalker 2’s subtitle.

There was no official announcement for the change, but it’s likely in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. GSC Game World put Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s development on hold as a result and released a video explaining why, which you can watch below.

The last update for Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl was in January when GSC Game World announced a seven-month delay. It’s unclear what’ll happen with the game now.

Many companies within the games industry are condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. PlayStation, Microsoft, CD Projekt Red, Electronic Arts, and more are suspending sales in Russia while The Pokémon Company, Itch.io, and others have donated towards humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Stalker 2 delayed to December

GSC delays the game by seven months.

Anyone itching to trek across irradiated wastes will be sad to hear that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl  has been delayed by seven months.

In a statement released Monday, GSC Game World clarified that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl will no longer make its original Apr. 29 launch date.

“We have made a decision to postpone the release S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl  to Dec. 8, 2022,” GSC Game World said on Twitter. “The additional seven months of development are needed to fulfill our vision and achieve the desired state of the game. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2  is the biggest project in the history of GSC, and it requires thorough testing and polishing.”

You can read GSC Game World’s complete statement below. Delays happen, but it’s still a bummer that one of the  biggest FPS titles of 2022  is so far off now.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl’s  developers were recently at the center of a  massive community backlash  for implementing NFTs into the game. Since then, however, the studio chose to listen to fans and  removed blockchain technology  from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl.

Given that there’s not been an entry in this series for a decade, the extra seven months should feel like nothing. We’ll find out by the time S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl  comes out on Dec. 8 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Stalker 2 developers cancel all NFT integration following backlash

NFTs will no longer be in the long-awaited sequel.

GSC Game World, developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl, is canceling all non-fungible token (NFT) support in the game.

On Wednesday, GSC Game World announced that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl would have its NFT support. Fans were, well, just a bit upset about the news.

Now, barely 24 hours later, the developer said it is walking back its support of the controversial blockchain technology.

“We Hear you. Based on the feedback we received, we’ve made a decision to cancel anything NFT-related in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2,‘ GSC Game World said on Twitter. “The interests of out fans and players are the top priority for the team. We’re making this game for you to enjoy — whatever the cost is. If you care, we care too.”

This announcement comes not long after a now-deleted tweet from GSC Game World attempting to defend its NFT integration. You can read that full statement for yourself below.

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Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Stalker 2 is adding NFTs, and fans are not happy

GSC Game World is implementing cryptocurrency into its game, and fans aren’t happy.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl  announced its own metaverse complete with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and to the surprise of nobody, fans are livid about it.

Later this month, anyone can register for “item drops” that will begin slithering into existence sometime in Jan. 2022, and among the prizes will be a chance for someone to become the “first-ever metahuman” that will become an in-game non-playable character. Which is a fancy way of saying they’ll scan your face and plaster it on a shopkeeper. It’s not nearly as cool as they make it sound. 

GSC Game World isn’t the first studio to attempt shoving blockchain technologies into its games, but it is the latest to face significant blowback from its community over adding NFTs. Dead By Daylight  fans  dragged Behavior Interactive through the mud  for doing something similar, and Ubisoft received  overwhelmingly negative attention for implementing similar into Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.

GSC Game World CEO Evgeniy Grygorovych tried to weather the storm a bit ahead of time by making it sound like the company is giving back to its community.

“Considering the global trends in gaming, we can do more than just offer an immersive game experience,” Grygorovych said in a press release. “Our players can get a deeper presence in the game, and we will give them this opportunity by presenting the first AAA game with a unique meta experience.”

Naturally, people aren’t buying into the damage control. Below you’ll find a list of some of the most vocal naysayers. As someone that was greatly looking forward to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl, I’m right there everyone that’s catastrophically disappointed.