19 days after the invasion began, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to attract the attention of the world and, at least for the moment, a de-escalation of the situation does not seem on the horizon. This inevitably also affects the Ukrainian gaming industry.
As we know, the development of STALKER 2 has been paused by GSC Game World, a studio based in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine: the developers have many other priorities to manage at this crucial moment, in the hope that the clash can finally cease.
In the meantime, however, the authors have made a small but significant change to the subtitle of STALKER 2: from Heart of Chernobyl, in fact, it becomes Heart of Chornobyl, with another or instead of and.
The reason behind this change, visible on the Steam page of the game, is quickly explained: Chornobyl is the name that is used by the Ukrainian people to refer to the well-known nuclear power plant, whereas Chernobyl is the regular Russian pronunciation. In this way, therefore, GSC Game World once again wanted to underline its total resolve against the conflict and its dramatic consequences.
With the precipitate of events that took place last February 24, the developers of STALKER 2 and The Sinking City made an initial appeal by immediately talking about the gravity of the situation. Since then, the gaming world has also taken a stand, with several software houses that have stopped the sale and distribution of their products in Russia.