According to a recent post on social media, Russian hackers have leaked game material pertaining to GSC Game World’sSTALKER2. The upcoming game is one of the most anticipated titles in 2023, particularly among the first-person shooter fanbase. AsSTALKER2 pushes for a 2023 release, the studio appears to be facing a much more demanding situation than it may have previously expected.
STALKER2 has undergone over a decade of development, mostly due to financial constraints during the first few years. After the game was eventually unannounced in 2018, the Ukraine-based studio faced further issues during the development process, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, but most recently, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. Although despite the devastating effects of the Russian invasion, theSTALKER2 team continued development work. Reports even surfaced showing how some of the developers were finishing the game in the middle of the war, whilesomeSTALKER2 developers foughtin an effort to help fight off the Russian forces. Now, with the game set for a 2023 release, GSC Game World faces another challenge.
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In what appears to be an effort from a group of Russian hackers going by the name “Vestnik TSS”, a recent post on the Russian social media site VK details a list of demands fromSTALKER2developers. The post in question includes a set of images and artwork that are believed to be from the game, with the hackers threatening to release “tens of gigabytes” of unreleased game material if the needs aren’t met. Accordingly, the hackers demand that GSC Game World changes its attitude towards players from Russia and Belarus, and “apologize for the unworthy attitude towards ordinary players from these countries.” The demands also specify bringing back RU-localization to the game as well as unbanning the “NF Star” profile from the game studio’s discord channel.
The post further mentions that the group expects GSC to meet the demands by March 15. Should the company fail, the hackers threaten to release all the material which allegedly includes the full story, cutscenes, concept art, and global maps. While it remains to be seen how real the threat is for the company, the timing of the ultimatum comes merely a few months afterGSC released a detailedSTALKER2 trailerand fans began to build excitement over the upcoming title.
Unfortunately, these types of incidents aren’t uncommon with hackers compromising everything from highly-anticipated titles likeGTA6 toActivision’s 2023 Call of Duty plans. Though, GSC’s STALKER 2 falls in a slightly more tricky spot considering Ukraine’s situation amid the Russian invasion. As of now, it’s unclear how GSC will choose to respond to the hackers' demands. Whether it will heed the hackers' warning or opt to shadow-release the game in hopes of circumventing the threats altogether, time will tell.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobylreleases in 2023 on PC and Xbox Series X.
