It's been a tough year for video game developers. We've seen countless studio closures, even from the most successful of the bunch. Unfortunately, it seems the trend still hasn't let up as STALKER developer GSC Game World has reportedly closed its doors as well. Development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is said to have ceased as a result and we couldn't be more disappointed.
The report first showed up in the Ukrainian publication UrkaNews, stating that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (STALKER 2) had been cancelled and CEO Sergei Grigorovich planned to close the company for unspecified reasons, though they are said to have been personal. According to the outlet, Grigorovich wasn't happy with the development of STALKER 2 and the group has even speculated that Ukranian Law Enforcement wanted to take over the company.
GSC Game World also posted a tweet denying the allegations that they were closing and that STALKER 2 had been cancelled, though this tweet has since been mysteriously removed.
It's unlikely that the company was suffering from financial turmoil as the STALKER series has sold over 4 million copies, a lot for a relatively small developer - GSC Gameworld employees just over forty people.
We do hope that piracy did not play a part in their alleged demise; GSC Game World discussed the possibility of DRM in STALKER 2, so it's possible that the company may have been a victim of unforeseen losses, and hence their readiness to include invasive DRM in their products.
Still, it seems unlikely that piracy would be the cause, and even if it were, GSC Game World does not seem like they were suffering financially. The news comes out of the blue since the game was announced last summer and quite a bit of development time has passed. At this point, we can only hope that's all this is a rumor, as GSC Game World has yet to truly confirm or deny whether they are still in operation, though we will update once we find out.
In any case, if the studio has closed down, we wish those affected luck in finding new jobs.
STALKER 2 was in development for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, though that may or may not be the case anymore.
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