Ukraine-developed Stalker 2 is on hold as studio ‘helps employees and families survive’

The development of Stalker 2 has been put on hold as its development studio deals with the ongoing Russian invasion of its home country, Ukraine.

In a new video posted on its official YouTube channel (seen embedded above), developer GSC Game World explains how the war has affected its employees and their families.

“The previous week, we were editing the video about our motion capture studio,” the video says.

“We wanted to show how the cutscenes were created. Took time to watch videos, write scripts and speak with actors.

“The previous week was ages ago.”

It continues: “On the 24th of February, Russia declared war on Ukraine and sent rockets, tanks and soldiers to our homeland. Our country is forced to fight for existence again. Seems like this is the price of freedom.”

Showing footage of explosions in various areas of Ukraine, the video adds: “This video is our answer to [the] ‘how are you guys?’ question. Now we are striving to help our employees and their families to survive.

“The game development shifted to the sidelines. But we will definitely continue. After the victory. Glory to Ukraine.”

Russia’s invasion has been affecting the games industry, as it has practically every other major industry in the world. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister has called on Xbox and PlayStation to temporarily end support in both Russia and Belarus (which has been supporting Russia).

In an open letter published on Twitter, Mykhailo Fedorov called on the platform holders to “block all Russian and Belorussian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belorussian teams and gamers in all international esports events”.

Meanwhile, EA has announced that it is removing all Russian teams from FIFA 22, and all Russian and Belarusian teams from NHL 22.