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Kyiv-based GSC Game World has seemingly confirmed it has resumed development on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl following a pause that was due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As reported by PC Gamer, GRY-Online shared the news of the update in Polish, saying a message was delivered in Discord by GSC Game World community representative Mol1t that said development on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 “continues” and “the work is in progress.”
GSC said that development on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 would be paused earlier this year due to the invasion and that work on the game would continue after Ukraine’s victory over Russia in the ongoing war. The team also explained on its YouTube channel titled “Lights! Camera! War…” how their lives have changed since the invasion began.
PC Gamer has noted that rumors have indicated that some of the developers have relocated to Prague, and it also wrote about how GSC changed the name of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl to reflect the Ukrainian spelling rather than the Russian.
It was also shared that the game’s official Discord was closed to new chat following the development pause announcement, but it has reopened in the past few days.
In January, GSC revealed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was delayed to December 8, 2022, and it has shared no further updates since as to whether that date has been impacted by these recent developments.
For more on the ongoing war in Ukraine, check out others in the games industry who have been either impacted by it or who have thrown in their support for Ukraine.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.