According to a recent social media post, Russian hackers have released game content for GSC Game World’s STALKER 2. The next game is one of the most anticipated releases in 2023, especially among fans of first-person shooters. As STALKER 2 nears completion in 2023, the studio looks to be in a considerably more difficult condition than it may have anticipated.
STALKER 2 has taken almost a decade to produce, owing mostly to funding restraints in the early years. After the game’s eventual unannouncement in 2018, the Ukraine-based company had further challenges throughout the production process, due in part to the coronavirus epidemic, but most recently, the effect of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Despite the devastation caused by the Soviet invasion, the STALKER 2 team continued to work on the game. Claims even circulated of some of the creators finalising the game in the midst of the conflict, while some STALKER 2 devs fought to assist fend off Russian soldiers. Now, with the game planned for a 2023 release, GSC Game World confronts another problem.
A recent post on the Russian social networking site VK includes a list of requests from STALKER 2 creators, which looks to be an attempt by a gang of Russian hackers known as “Vestnik TSS.” The message in question has a collection of photos and artwork thought to be from the game, with the hackers threatening to reveal “tens of terabytes” of unreleased game content if the criteria are not satisfied. As a result, the hackers urge that GSC Game World adjust its attitude towards Russian and Belarussian gamers, as well as “apologise for the unworthy attitude towards regular players from these nations.” The requests also include restoring RU-localization to the game and removing the “NF Star” profile from the gaming studio’s Discord channel.
The article further states that the organisation wants GSC to satisfy the conditions by March 15. If the firm fails, the hackers threaten to reveal all of the content, which includes the whole plot, cutscenes, concept art, and world maps. Although it is unclear how serious the danger is for the firm, the ultimatum comes only a few months after GSC published a comprehensive STALKER 2 teaser and fans started to build anticipation for the future product.
Sadly, situations like these are very rare, with hackers compromising anything from highly anticipated releases like GTA 6 to Activision’s Call of Duty plans for 2023. Yet, given Ukraine’s condition in the midst of the Russian invasion, GSC’s STALKER 2 is in a little more difficult position. As of yet, it is unknown how GSC would react to the hackers’ demands. Time will tell if it will heed the hackers’ warnings or elect to shadow-release the game in the hopes of completely avoiding the risks.
