The tragedy that has struck Ukraine (but not only) due to the Russian invasion is taking its toll on GSC Game World developers: the team behind the post-apocalyptic RPG STALKER 2 is mourning the death of Vladimir Yezhov , a game designer who took up arms in defence of his country.

Although it’s Christmas here and hopefully everyone will spend the holiday in peace and love, unfortunately this is not the case in our neighbouring country to the east of us, Ukraine, because of the ongoing war started by Russia. And on 22 December, the former creator of GSC Game World, the developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Volodymyr Anatolevich Yezhsov, nicknamed Fresh, was killed in action. Yezhov was 38 years old and is mourned by his family, including his brother and two children.

The sad news was announced on Facebook by the brother of the fallen developer, Viacheslav Yezhov (or Viacheslav Yezhov in English). “No one truly understands the significance of grief until it directly affects them or their loved ones. It seems so far away, then suddenly it enters your home and the world changes irreversibly. Today [22 December], my dear brother, a father of two, a loyal friend with a pure heart, fell in defence of Ukraine. He said that the Ukrainian people have finally taken the lead in this struggle, a happier future is being built for our children. I hope you are in a better place now, brother,” wrote a relative of the deceased. According to other reports, Volodymyr Yezhov died near Bahmut in the Donetsk Basin (now in Donetsk province), where fierce fighting was still raging in December.

It became known that one of the developers of the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. died defending Ukraine from the Russian invasion. Vladimir "Fresh" Yezhov. pic.twitter.com/83vgYEki1t

— NOËL 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) December 24, 2022

Born in 1984, Volodimir Yezsov worked at GSC between 2003 and 2007, so he was involved in the development of the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and as the designer of the standalone add-on Clear Sky, which came out in 2008, he designed the Cordon and Yantar areas, among others. Loki, one of the characters in Clear Sky’s sequel Call of Pripyat, is said to have been modelled on him: you can see pictures of both Yezhov and Loki above. He has also worked on the sequel to the classic RTS Cossacks and the fantasy-themed strategy game Heroes of Annihilated Empires, which is of a similar calibre but no longer very successful. After GSC, he worked at Frogwares, among others, where he was involved in developing Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter. After the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war in February this year, he enlisted in the army, leading an air reconnaissance unit.

Rest in peace! We thank him for all the good games, his dedicated fight for his country, and our sincere condolences to the family!

Yezhov is not the only game developer casualty of the war, in October we had to report that one of the creators of Metro Exodus had also been killed in action against the Russians.