A poignant and totally surreal testimony from the developers of STALKER 2 who continue their work despite the tragedy that strikes their country.
Courage, unwavering will. These are the first words that come to mind after seeing the images shared by the developers of GSC Games World. As war has raged in their country for over a hundred days now, the artists do not give up and continue to work in disastrous and shocking conditions. They witness.
However, we warn that the video below contains images of bombardments which could be particularly difficult for some people.
Courageous and patriotic, the GSC teams never give up
On February 24, 2022, Russia is carrying out its “special operation” against its Ukrainian neighbor. A particularly violent militarized invasion that quickly storms Kyiv, the nation’s capital. At its center, among the hundreds of thousands of civilians, is GSC, a development studio currently at work on the highly anticipated STALKER 2, pushed back indefinitely.
Rapidly, development is put on hold to let the teams organize and take shelter. Then, as if nothing had happened, or almost. Between two sirens announcing hell, the devs work on them. One set up his base of operations in a bathroom, another took up residence in a hallway accompanied by an injured dog. It’s difficult, not to say unbearable. “Writing quests about war is very difficult when it’s happening right outside your window,” says Dariya TsepkovaNarrative Designer.
Some developers also juggle work and humanitarian missions. Supporting volunteer missions to help their friends and neighbours, while others have simply taken up arms to defend their homelandand seems to keep the faith, saying he is eager to get back to work once Ukraine wins the conflict. A handful of developers also didn’t share their privacy details for their own safety..
Like many Ukrainians, GSC employees are taken by the throat. Some have lost friends, family or pets, while others live in limbo, without news of their loved ones for too long weeks.
Originally from Mariupol, a city largely destroyed by the Russian army, Oleksandr Levchenko, Animator, testifies: “From the beginning of the hostilities, I lost contact with my family and my friends. It’s an indescribable and horrible feeling not knowing if they’re alive or not.”
If behind a pad she is entertaining, in Ukraine as elsewhere, war remains an indescribable and horrifying atrocity. If humans are capable of the best, they are also capable of the worst and unfortunately tend to excel in the field. It has now been almost 114 days that Ukraine has been set on fire and blood by Russia, under the horrified eyes of the international community. This is unfortunately not the first war and it will certainly not be the last.
At our level, we can only wish strength and courage to all the victims of this conflict.
