Survarium developer Vostok Games says it has "taken a break" from work on the game as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and that some of its team has now left the city of Kyiv, where the studio is based, for safer parts of the country.
"As expected we have taken a break from our work, due to obvious reasons," the studio tweeted. "We've taken (and continue to take) efforts to ensure our team are safe (as much as we can do in this current situation."
"Part of the team has moved from Kyiv (to Western part of Ukraine or other places in the country). The rest are in Kyiv and are currently staying at their respective homes. So far everyone is alive and safe. We plan to get back to normal working routine as soon as this is over. In the meantime, we're doing our best to support all the studio activities remotely from homes. Thanks to you all for your support!"
An update from our team.https://t.co/lWuqcCDwIw#standwithukraine pic.twitter.com/syOSCGlMgeMarch 9, 2022
The tweet doesn't mention the Russian invasion specifically, but it does carry the #standwithukraine hashtag, and Vostok followed it with an image of Kyiv's Independence Monument and the hashtag #slavaukraine—Glory to Ukraine. It also linked to a page of resources on "real ways you can help Ukraine as a foreigner," which includes everything from donation links to pre-made protest posters, links to official Ukrainian government and media sources, and even instructions for joining the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, which for the record you really should not do unless you're an experienced military veteran.
Vostok is the second Ukrainian developer forced to suspend work on an in-development project as a result of the war: One week ago, Stalker 2 studio GSC Game World announced that it was pausing development so it could focus on ensuring the safety of its employees and their families. It took a slightly more upbeat attitude about when it would return to work on the game, though, saying that development will continue "after the victory."
