S.T.A.L.K.E.R. May Still be Alive
By Yannick LeJacq | December 12, 2011 | News | No comments | Share
Last week, a rumor surfaced that GSC Game World, developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, were closing their doors and thus ending development of the long-awaited sequel to the alternate-reality shooter. Game journalists were quick to offer postmortem reports on the project as the final nails were being stuck into the struggling developer’s coffin.
But now GSC Game World has come back from the dead, addressing rumors of its closure on its Twitter feed. ”We will do our best to continue,” a Tweet from earlier this morning read, “However, at this moment, nothing is certain.”
While GSC did not officially confirm the closure, the Ukrainian developer also stopped short of truly denying any reports or confirming that progress was still being made on their latest game.
News of the company’s struggles surfaced last week as GSC denied a Ukrainian news report that claimed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was cancelled and the company was shutting down. But then the company retracted its denial, leaving everyone to speculate about the game’s ambiguous future.
Initial reports claimed that the new open-world shooter had been abandoned when GSC founder and CEO Sergei Grigorovich decided to close the company. Apparently, Grigorovich announced the GSC’s closure at a company meeting, one source revealing only that he cited “unspecified personal reasons.”
But others indicated that Grigorovich himself was unhappy with the progress S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 had made, and Ukranian law enforcement was even interested in taking control of the company. Grigorovich himself denied rumors of any outside interference.
The PC exclusive S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was originally announced last August, following a surprising announcement of the series’ relatively impressive sales figures. At the moment, the future still looks decidedly bleak for the game and the company more broadly. Just an hour after the announcement that development may continue, GSC followed up with a less optimistic Tweet: “Our website will continue, with the forum & tech support. The shop will continue until the nearest planned items sell out.”
