In March, GSC Game World suspended work on the long-awaited action shooter at its Kyiv offices.

War has been raging in Europe for months, and Kyiv-based Ukrainian studio GSC Game World has been one of the most brutal hits in the industry by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In early March, development on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was halted to help employees affected by the war amid the Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital.

The studio has been distributing communications since the initial attacks asking for help.

Since then, they have continued to make gestures in defence of their country, such as subtly renaming the game’s title to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl on Steam, using the Ukrainian name for the city instead of the famous Russian name Chernobyl.

Fleeing the war, GSC Game World’s people have moved to new offices in the Czech Republic, and it seems they’ve managed to return to development on the highly anticipated action title: in a chat on the game’s Discord channel, shared by VGC, a user asked about the status of development and whether work had resumed.

A GSC Game World developer replied that “[development] is continuing.”

The shooter is still scheduled for release on December 8 this year, and while knowing that the developers are back at work is great news, it’s wise to be cautious and wait for more information on how the war has affected the development schedule.

Source: PC Gamer