GSC Game World, the Ukrainian developer behind Stalker 2, has been trying to get their game out. They’re doing their best, but things are obviously getting delayed. he delay came this week after the obvious deluge of news this past weekend.
After the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase aired, an image of upcoming Pass Games titles was shared on Twitter. If you look at the 2023 bracket on the right, you’ll see Stalker 2 listed in the center of the second row.
“We were actually planning to reveal it in the upcoming days,” GSC’s Zakhar Bocharov said in a statement to the website, “but yes, the game now releases in 2023.” So far, we don’t have a firm release date. So we will likely have to wait at least a few months to hear more about the game. With that obvious war going on, things are still too much in flux to expect more.
This news comes after the game was blocked from sale in Russia. Posting on the Russian social media site VKontakte (translated by ResetEra forum member AnastielBR_), GSC declared that physical versions of the game that had been pre-ordered were canceled. Though at the very least, digital pre-orders of Stalker 2 in Russia will still be honored when the game launches. So why did that happen? It’s very obvious why, war.
Understandably, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a horrible event. The cost of human lives on both sides is inexcusable, and it has thrown a region of the world into needless chaos. The games industry stepped in to help, as did the rest of the world. GSC Game World, the developer behind Stalker 2, tried to get people to help. The studio tried to get their hands on funding to help the Ukrainian armed forces fight back.
“Our country woke up with the sounds of explosions and weapons fire,” wrote the developer. “We thus address all of our colleagues in the gaming industry. Players, bloggers, or anyone who sees this post in their newsfeed: Share this, […] help those in need.”
The developer also provided a bank account number for folks to give financial aid to Ukraine’s armed forces in the ongoing conflict.
And now, the studio is doing its best to recover. Hopefully, the folks involved can remain safe and healthy. And hopefully, the game manages to come out in the future to the delight of fans.
