Developers from the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World, who are preparing for the release of the expected action STALKER 2, were the target of a hacker attack. On the VKontakte social network, a Russian community page reports to it Journal of “The Only Stalker” (over Reddit), specifically then fan nicknamed Nick Frost. In its post, the site states that it has obtained tens of gigabytes of data related to the mentioned game and threatens to publish them if the specified conditions are not met. These consist of reconsidering the decision not to release STALKER 2 in Russia and Belarus, re-include the deleted Russian localization, and unban the aforementioned Nick Frost on the game’s official Discord. However, the developers refused to negotiate and claim that they themselves have experienced much worse things than blackmail in the past year and do not intend to cooperate in any way.
“As one of the best-established STALKER community groups, and definitely the most unique, we decided we should intervene in the current situation,” the Journal reports. Although he does not describe in detail how he got the data from the game, he allegedly has a complete story, a description of cutscenes, artwork, maps and other material. “We estimate the size to be in the tens of gigabytes,” wrote Nick Frost, posting part of it under the post. “We don’t want to share all of this before the game’s release, as that would probably mean its cancellation or delay,” he then writes fan and imposes the conditions listed above. He also gives a “friendly” ultimatum until March 15, after which, if the demands are not met, he would change his mind and release the materials. “The fact that we have not released all the materials speaks volumes for our friendly attitude, after all your hostile actions. Don’t let STALKER 2 die because of your politicking,” concludes Nick Frost.
Let’s remember, however, that the developers from the Kiev studio are directly affected by the war in Ukraine, because of which they decided to change the subtitle less than a month after the Russian invasion and the interruption of development. This report also included information about the cancellation of the release in Russia and Belarus, which was subsequently followed by disturbing information about the situation in Ukraine from the developers’ point of view. There was also talk of a move to Prague, which was officially confirmed at the end of January this year, but we brought you information about the move of part of the team repeatedly during the course of last year. However, the video from June of last year had the strongest social impact, in which the developers showed the world, through their own footage, what game development looks like during the war. The attitude towards Russia or Belarus, which supports the invasion, was expected and it does not seem that the people from GSC Game World want to change anything. And not even on the basis of threats.
They released a statement on social media that shed some light on how the leak happened, but completely ruled out that they wanted to work with the hackers. “Regardless of the attempts that try to break us, we remain strong and determined,” the developers said. They also added that in the past months they faced more serious things, such as destroyed houses and the loss of loved ones, so all attempts at blackmail or intimidation are completely ineffective. However, they confirm that they were the target of attacks repeatedly throughout the year, and more than once there was a threat that either information about the game or personal data of employees would be leaked. Therefore, they stress that their position is not changing in any way and they will not reconsider their position on supporting Ukraine under any circumstances. Even for the reason that GSC Game World will not respond to Wednesday’s ultimatum, however, they warn players to beware of spoilers and, if possible, not to spread the information anywhere else. “Outdated and work-in-progress data can create a false impression of the final game idea we put into the game. Be patient and wait for the official release to get the best experience from the game,” the developers conclude.
The reaction came on Sunday afternoon, and Věstník has already responded to it with other posts, in which the obtained materials gradually appear.
