'Subconsciously, we were all ready to die': Stalker 2 developers secretly prepared for Russia's invasion

Stalker 2 trailer still
(Image credit: GSC Game World)

There aren't many games with a story like Stalker 2's, whose development at Ukrainian studio GSC Game World was interrupted by Russia's invasion of the country on February 24, 2022. Kyiv was bombed, devs and their families were evacuated while others enlisted in the Ukrainian military, and the studio as a whole had to be effectively rebuilt from the ground-up in Prague.

"Subconsciously, we were all ready to die," says a GSC dev named Alina in a new documentary, called War Game, put out to mark the game's tumultuous path to release on November 20 this year. In a section detailing devs' experiences of the day Russian troops rolled over Ukraine's border, we see shots of Ukrainians flooding into basements as missiles rained down from overhead. "I remember the alarm we heard in Kyiv," recalls another dev, "It was quite a scary feeling. The creepiest thing was knowing that your life would depend on this sound."

But the doc also details the myriad ways in which the invasion impacted GSC even before it happened. As early as December 2021, certain company execs were thinking about plans for evacuation, mapping out routes into the west of the country and out of Kyiv in the event that Russia actually followed through on its apparent ambition to conquer Ukraine.

"I thought that Putin wouldn't want to start a war with NATO," says GSC's Mariia Grygorovych. "Which meant there shouldn't be missiles [landing] within 50km of a NATO border." Secretly, so as not to panic staff, Grygorovych and other high-ranking GSC staff began formulating plans to move everyone to Uzhhorod—right on the Ukraine-Slovakian border—in the event war broke out. "We booked buses back in January that were parked outside the offices 24/7," recalls Grygorovych. "Initially, we didn't tell the team about these buses. Because we didn't want to scare people."

The studio eventually made use of those buses on February 20, just days before the invasion began, moving over 180 devs (though over a hundred refused to leave Kyiv regardless of the risk of war) westwards. Four days later, Russian troops rolled in, kicking off a long process of rebuilding for GSC in Prague, also detailed in the doc.

"We had to rearrange everything from scratch," says Grygorovych, including recasting actors who had gone to fight the invasion. "The game, for us, is now an element of resistance."

You can find the full documentary on the Xbox and GSC YouTube channels.

Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
Stalker 2 endings - Soldiers gathered together
'Negotiations are underway' for a Stalker 2 Netflix show, because bleak post-apocalyptic fiction and Chornobyl are a killer TV combo
Stalker 2
It launched upside down and on fire, but busted and brilliant Stalker 2 has attracted 6 million players to the Zone in the last 3 months
Atomfall Gamescom screenshots
Atomfall dev says Rebellion's open world shooter has 'some experimental stuff' that can have a 'huge influence' on the game world: 'It might work out. It might not'
An enemy druid dodges a stab from the player.
As a Stalker sicko, the 2 hours I just spent with Atomfall have made it one of my most-anticipated games this year
Spirit of the PC: Stalker 2
Spirit of the PC 2024: Stalker 2
An armoured trooper stands in front of the Chernobyl sarcophagus.
Sweet aunt Petunia! GSC just announced updates for the 3 classic Stalker games 15 years after release
Latest in Games
GTA 5 characters
GTA 5 publisher takes legal aim at account-selling site for allegedly raking in 'millions in revenue', while recruiting hackers to keep its cogs turning
Marvel Rivals Human Torch
Marvel Rivals is carrying on the tradition of chaotic patches after buffing two of the most annoying heroes, but I main one of them, so I'm not complaining
Monster Hunter Wilds palico
One of the biggest victories of Monster Hunter Wilds' streamlining is I don't have to deal with those awful gimmick fights anymore
Monster Hunter Wilds Artian weapon crafting - Gemma holding hot metal
Gemma's English VA is right with us on Monster Hunter Wild's confusing menus, which makes me feel a little better for having to Google symbols all the time
A young witch watering a smiling mushroom in a magic garden
Here's a roguelite dungeon crawler Steam reviewers call 'a botanical Diablo' and 'like Cult of the Lamb' except you manage a mystical garden
Destiny 2 Rite of the Nine: The Emissary, massive, ominously standing at the edge of a water basin.
Oops! Bungie rolled out Destiny 2's Rite of the Nine event three weeks early, and new loot is already dropping
Latest in News
Yoda Luke and R2 in Lego form.
Lego is going to make its videogames in-house from now on, says it would 'almost rather overinvest'
Devil May Cry Netflix screenshots
We've just got a first look at Vergil in Netflix's upcoming Devil May Cry series alongside another key character from Devil May Cry 3
The OBSBot Tiny 2 Lite on a blue background
My favourite 4K webcam spins on a gimbal to track your face, and it's now at its lowest ever price at Amazon
GTA 5 characters
GTA 5 publisher takes legal aim at account-selling site for allegedly raking in 'millions in revenue', while recruiting hackers to keep its cogs turning
XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Quicksilver graphics card on a blue background with angel wings on either side
XFX is letting you add customisable 3D printed wings to its Quicksilver RX 9070-series graphics cards
Gigabyte G6X gaming laptop
More affordable sub-$1,000 RTX 50-series laptops likely coming in May as RTX 5060 and RTX 5050 models spotted online