Ukrainian studio GSC is releasing the long-awaited sequel to its hit video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R., reworked during the Russian invasion that forced many of the developers to leave the country.
The post-apocalyptic first-person shooter takes place in a fictionalized version of the exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which suffered a deadly accident in 1986.
The sequel, called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, was first announced in 2010. and postponed several times. The premiere will finally take place on Wednesday, November 20.
The November 20 release marks the end of a long and chaotic journey for GSC Game World employees, some of whom joined the military and others fled to Prague when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The game's polluted area is full of dangers, where monsters and rival human factions run rampant.
"The war affected our lives, but not the creative process," CEO Ivgen Grigorovic told AFP in the Czech capital.
Employees chat online, including in a large weekly meeting for about 500 employees.
"Most of them stayed in Ukraine, but we don't have the feeling of a disunited team," Grigorovich added.
The Prague office consists of three floors and a film studio decorated with Ukrainian flags and cobwebs left over from Halloween.
Grigorovich, 38, born just days before the Chernobyl disaster, joined the studio founded by his brother at the age of 14.
He describes himself as "a pretty good programmer, technical artist and game designer".
“I'm an introvert and I didn't like spending energy telling others what to do. So I learned how to do everything myself,” he says.
But his experience could not have prepared him for the hasty exit from Ukraine described in the documentary War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2", released in October.
"The Invasion Affected Us"
Most GSC personnel left for western Ukraine by bus just before the invasion and continued to Prague via Budapest.
"The invasion affected us and the game because we became slightly different people," explained Grigorovic, who escaped with his wife, a musician turned GSC manager, their young son and other family members.
GSC, which also produces the Cossacks series, has since cut ties with Russian players, removing the Russian voice and changing the text captions to Ukrainian.
The company has been relentlessly targeted by Russian hackers, which is "annoying but manageable," Grigorovic said.
"We should have built a much better security system," he added.
GSC raised over $800,000 in charity sales for a Ukrainian organization immediately after the war began. Its employees send money to friends, relatives and soldiers in Ukraine, and others who have joined the army are still on the payroll. | BGNES
