During the Xbox and Bethesda extended showcase stream, Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World shared a video detailing how the team continued to develop the game while dealing with bombings and military service.
While much of GSC Game World’s development team have relocated to Prague, not all of the team were able to leave Ukraine. Because of this, last night (June 14) the developer shared a video diary displaying how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected the creation of Stalker 2.
“During the bombing, we run to the bomb shelter,” shares Andrii Maksiuta, voice director at GSC Game World. At one point in the video Maksiuta points out his cat’s carrier bag, but said his pet “died in the shelling in the first week of the war”.
Community manager Taras Kukurian said that there are “air raid sirens around the clock” and shows the neighbourhood he walks in after work, which is filled with bombed apartment blocks and torched homes.
The dev diary also demonstrates how working condition have changed for developers. One community lead now works in an “office space” between a bathtub and a washing machine, while narrative designer Dariia Tsepkova has spent the last three months living and working in a corridor with a one-eyed dog that was rescued from shelling.
“It’s not easy to write violent quests when there’s a war outside your window,” shared Tsepkova.
Oleksandr Levchenko, an animator from Mariupol, said he has had “no contact” with his parents. “It is indescribable horrible feeling, not knowing whether your loved ones are alive.”
The dev diary also shows how several members of the team are juggling development with volunteer work and military service. One developer talks while stood beside a large mounted gun, while another dedicates his time between animating 3D environments and helping move supplies.
Last month development on Stalker 2 resumed, however it has been delayed into 2023.
