Stalker 2 no longer for sale in Russia due to ongoing Ukraine invasion

No video game developer has been as vocal about the Russian invasion of Ukraine as GSC Game World, the studio making Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl — even that subtle name change was a deliberate move by the team. Now, the upcoming shooter is being removed from sale in Russia, and the only surprise is that it was still up for pre-order there at all.

Posting on Russian social media site VKontakte (translated by ResetEra forum member AnastielBR_), GSC declared its ongoing support for its home country of Ukraine and explained the situation in a few points. First, existing digital pre-orders of Stalker 2 in Russia will still be honored when the game launches, but new ones cannot be purchased. Physical editions are outright canceled, and GSC recommends talking to the store where you pre-ordered if you’re affected by that.

GSC also acknowledges that some Russian citizens interested in its game oppose this war as well, but the line must be drawn. It “does not regret losing that part of the community” because “separation is not possible.​” The studio has been urging the games industry to help with the crisis in any way it can from the beginning, so this is all par for the course. Development of Stalker 2 is currently on pause until things are resolved — “until the victory,” as GSC has put it before.