Stalker 2 documentary shares personal stories from development against the backdrop of war
"Subconsciously, we were all ready to die."
Ukrainian developer GSC Game World has debuted a feature length and emotionally driven documentary about its upcoming release, Stalker 2.
The documentary, War Game: The Making of Stalker 2, touches on the developer's history and details what it has been like to work on the forthcoming sequel during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Since 2022, GSC has delayed Stalker 2 delayed several times and relocated staff to safely finish the project elsewhere, while others have joined Ukraine's armed forces, and dealt with Russian hackers who leaked test builds.
22 Things You Need To Know About STALKER 2 - Gameplay, Enemies, & New Anomalies - STALKER 2 GAMEPLAY
War Game: The Making of Stalker 2 features a number of interviews with developers, including creative director Mariia Grygorovych, who called the upcoming release "the biggest game in the history of the company".
The documentary covers a significant portion of Ukraine's history and how it has influenced the developer, including the Chornobyl nuclear disaster and the day Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, before going deeper into Russia's invasion of the country in 2022.
The Stalker 2 team talks about preparing an escape route from Kyiv when rumblings about a Russian invasion began making the rounds in 2021. According to Grygorovych, GSC had buses booked and ready to take team members to a safe location in Uzhhorod - a city which borders Slovakia - from January 2022. "Initially, we didn't tell the team about these buses," Grygorovych said, "because we didn't want to scare people."
However, the studio heads soon began making their intentions known, and preparations were made for those who wanted to leave on the chance of an invasion. In February 2022, staff were then asked to come into the office to collect their belongings and leave Kyiv. Many assumed this would be a short term measure, perhaps a week or so, but the reality was this was the start of an ongoing and major change not just for GSC, but the entire country.
Eventually, GSC set up a new base in Prague to continue work on Stalker 2. The studio had to "arrange everything from scratch", including a complete recasting of its actors. "Some actors went to fight, some moved elsewhere, or just lost contact," Grygorovych explained.
GSC then had to build a motion capture and audio recording studio to continue development. In addition, the developer set up spaces for its team members who remained in Ukraine, so they could continue working on the project, while also staying warm.
"No matter what anyone says, we are a strong nation, we are strong," said one developer, discussing the studio's perseverance. "We load our weapons with one hand and make the game with the other."
You can watch War Game: The Making of Stalker 2 in full below. Please be aware, there is some footage within this documentary of the war - including images of casualties - as well as archival footage from the Chornobyl disaster. Meanwhile, some of the personal recollections from during the game's development can be upsetting. Please view at your own discretion.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is set to launch on 20th November, when it'll be available on Xbox Series X/S, PC (via Steam, GOG, Epic, and GSC's website), and Game Pass.
For more on Stalker 2, you can check out a 35-minute deep dive into the post-apocalyptic horror shooter sequel, showcasing a mission across its bleak, beautiful open-world, here.