The developers at GSC Game World are now nearing the end of development on the game to show the world that they’re still with us.

GSC Game World has not been in an easy position. The Ukrainian studio was hit hard when Russia started a war against Ukraine. They moved their headquarters to Prague, where the studio burned down a year after opening, and last year Russian hackers leaked early builds of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Some of the developers joined the Ukrainian army, and at least one was killed in the fighting.

Volodymyr gave us so many games, so many Universes… The players will always remember him.

Thank you, Volodymyr. Our condolences to the family. Ukraine has lost another hero.

Герої не вмирають.

— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) December 26, 2022

Originally scheduled for release in 2022, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Shadow of Chornobyl has been delayed several times and may now have a final release date, with technical producer Evgeny Kulik telling PCGamer at Gamescom that the studio has come a long, bumpy way so far, but the developers have helped each other along the way:

Kulik said, “When we moved to the Czech Republic right after the Russian aggression, we worked very closely together. Even after work we talk about the game, we make some decisions, we’re constantly talking about what should be improved. And it really helps a lot because we are really worried about our colleagues, our families back home, because we have two big studios, one in Prague of course, and we have a really big office with almost 200 people back in Ukraine, in Kyiv. And these guys are constantly working under a lot of pressure because of the constant bombing, the constant air raid sirens.

We’re really excited about the response of the people. They’re giving us a lot of energy to look for. Of course we are tired. It’s like a long run with so many problems that we faced during development… Now we should do our best to finish this project, finish this game, and once again release it to the public and say: Hey, we are here.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Shadow of Chornobyl will be released on November 20th for the Xbox Series and PC. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass.

Source: PCGamer