Editor’s Note: The war in Ukraine is an ongoing, painful and emotive topic. IGN urges community members to be respectful when engaging in conversation around this subject and does not endorse harassment of any kind.
Kyiv-based STALKER 2 developer GSC Game World has defiantly said that development on the game will continue after Ukraine’s victory over Russia in the ongoing war.
In a video uploaded to GSC’s YouTube channel titled “Lights! Camera! War…”, the studio explained how its world had been turned upside down due to the Russian invasion.
Captions in the video read: “The previous week we were editing the video about our motion capture studio. We wanted to show how the cutscenes were created, took time to watch the videos, write scripts and speak with actors. The previous week was ages ago.
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“On the 24th of February Russia declared war on Ukraine and sent rockets, tanks, and soldiers to our homeland. Our country is forced to fight for existence again.
“Now we are striving to help our employees and their families to survive. The game development shifted to the side-lines. But we will definitely continue. After the victory. Glory to Ukraine.”
GSC previously called for support from fans and the industry, and asked people to send funds to the Ukrainian army. It comes as many in the games industry have thrown support behind Ukraine after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion into the country.
«Gameplay when?» is no longer the most common question. Now we hear «Are you guys okay?» more and more.https://t.co/E6yyzTwwSd
— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) March 2, 2022
11 Bit Studios, GOG, Raw Fury, Bungie, CD Projekt Red, Beetlewing, Wargaming, and other developers, publishers, and gaming influencers have donated money to charities helping Ukrainian civilians and refugees.
Ukraine has also officially called upon Xbox, PlayStation and “all game development companies” to temporarily stop supporting Russia and Belarus in an open letter written by deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.