It looks like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 might be back in business.
Fans of bizarre, hard-ass PC-exclusive shooters set in desolate, post-Soviet wastelands got some bad news last month when word slipped out that GSC Game World had pulled the plug on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and was actually closing its doors. Confusion followed and nobody was entirely sure what was going on which, when you think about it, is really kind of appropriate for a drama involving an eastern European videogame studio.
Now, however, there’s some good news, or at least the possibility that we will someday see more of the Zone. “The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. team is extremely happy!” the studio wrote on the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Facebook page. “Why? Because we are continuing work on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 after the holidays.”
All is not completely well, however. Despite the upbeat Facebook post, GSC rep Oleg Yavorsky told Edge that money still needs to be found. “We are still in the process of seeking funding to back up the project,” he said. “We are hopeful things turn out well eventually. The team really wants to see S.T.A.L.K.E.R. continue.”
1C Multimedia Marketing Director Sergey Galyonkin, meanwhile, wrote on his blog [Google translated] that “the team is currently in talks with potential investors, looking for people willing to invest in the development of the game. The project is still in limbo, but there is hope.” Possibly-former GSC Game World CEO Sergei Grigorovich is not yet ready to make a statement, he added.
It’s not an iron-clad assurance that the game will see the light of day, in other words, but it is good to know that somebody, somewhere [in Kiev, actually] is still fighting to get this thing done. As always, we’ll keep you posted.
