Stalker 2 is reportedly back in development. That’s according to a journalist from the Czech Republic who says that GSC Game World has moved its employees there. The move was then confirmed by the Czech games website Vortex. The website claims that a trusted source confirmed the company had relocated to the country’s capital, Prague. There’s mixed information on whether the company has moved all of its employees to Prague or just some of them. Vortex suggests that it’s part of the team while Pavel Dobrovsky, the journalist who broke the story, claims that everyone is heading to Prague.
Development on Stalker 2 was suspended at the beginning of this month due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. GSC Game World, the developer of Stalker 2, is based in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. The company announced that it would be moving the development of Stalker 2 “to the sidelines” in order to ensure the safety of its employees and their families. The company also changed the spelling of their game from Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl to Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl to reflect the Ukrainian spelling of the power plant.
Stalker 2 was originally slated to come out on December 8, 2022. Although there has been no specific announcement that the game has been moved from that date, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the game move back. The studio lost nearly a month of development time already during a crucial period for the game. Moving a whole development studio to a new country is no easy feat. The good news for the developers working at GSC Game World is that they will be able to continue their work on the game in the safety of Prague.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is currently in development for the PC and Xbox Series X/S consoles.