A store based on the GSC Game World IP has opened in the Ukrainian capital and is stylish.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games weren’t about buying food and eating but about fighting the anomalies around the Chornobyl nuclear power plant with weapons and surviving (yes, sometimes you needed vodka to do that). Perhaps that’s why GSC Game World’s marketing ploy (remember, they’re working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2) may seem unusual, as a supermarket based on the theme of their IP has opened in the eastern part of Kyiv.

As well as products modelled after games, the store sells traditional vegetables, fruit, meat and… the seemingly incomprehensible S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-themed brownies with a suitably post-apocalyptic visual. The shop promises that you’ll be able to do your week’s shopping here while feeling like you’re stuck in a sewage pipe and your bullet wounds have been treated with bread.

The deal is a joint venture between GSC Game World and Silpo, a Ukrainian chain of stores. Silpo specialises in such exceptional themed experiences, having opened a cyberpunk and anime supermarket. And, incredible as it may sound, they also have a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas-themed store. Zakhar Bocharov of GSC told PCGamer that the deal is not temporary. He says it will be here forever. As long as the shop is there, it will be S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-themed!

The store’s opening was disrupted by Russia’s war against Ukraine (which began nearly six months ago… if you don’t count the events since 2014). Despite the opening, not everything is in place yet, as the Zone anomaly imitation and the statues of the game’s monsters are not there. Bocharov says these are planned, and hopefully, they will arrive during the “visual tuning”.

It’s safe to say that this is quite a clever marketing ploy by GSC Game World, who pushed the Xbox Series/PC release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to 2023 because of the war.

Source: PCGamer