War Game: The Making of STALKER 2 Is Required Viewing For Fans Old and New

Even those who have never played a STALKER game have likely heard something about STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl and its troubled development. Originally announced back in 2018 with a simple image depicting the game’s logo, STALKER 2 wouldn’t be seen again until E3 2021 when a trailer for the sequel played during Xbox’s presentation. Initially, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl had an April 2022 release window. It did not make that release date.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has suffered from multiple delays over the last few years, and while fans had a rough idea of what the Ukraine-based developer GSC Game World was experiencing behind the scenes, there’s even more heartbreak, courage, and resilience to be found in the studio’s story. This story is the focal point of War Game: The Making of STALKER 2, a recently released documentary that everyone even remotely interested in the STALKER series and video game development should watch.

War Game: The Making of STALKER 2 Gives Players Some Important Context

War Game Gives Vital Historical Context

One of the greatest strengths of War Game: The Making of STALKER 2 is that it provides newcomers to the series and long-time fans with some important pieces of context needed to jump into the sequel. The documentary opens up with some very important historical context, summarizing the events of the 1986 Chornobyl disaster and how that pivotal moment forever changed Ukrainian history, being the catalyst for Ukraine severing its ties with the USSR.

While players will still be able to hop into STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl and enjoy the atmospheric setting without any prior knowledge, knowing the real-world inspirations behind the irradiated in-game setting and how it’s impacted the game’s Ukrainian development team adds a much deeper layer of narrative nuance.

War Game Gives New Fans a Clear Overview of The STALKER Series

Another important piece of context that War Game: The Making of STALKER 2 gives is a brief breakdown of the STALKER series itself. The documentary explains how the original STALKER became a cult hit in the US, essentially being the first major Ukrainian hit in the Western gaming world.

That cult following has continued to grow steadily over the last 17 years, and with a larger fan base comes higher expectations. War Game makes it repeatedly clear that the developers behind STALKER 2 know just how high fans’ expectations are for the sequel, and the developers are working against insurmountable odds to achieve those.

War Game: The Making of STALKER 2 Shines a Candid Light on The Game’s Unimaginable Development Process

Two-thirds of War Game: The Making of STALKER 2‘s runtime is centered around the last two years of STALKER 2‘s development, specifically on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has impacted not just the process of creating the long-awaited sequel but the lives of everyone involved in making the game. Over an hour, viewers watch as STALKER 2‘s developers are forced to relocate due to the invasion of their home country.

Viewers see GSC Game World’s CEO levgen Grygorovych and creative director Maria Grygorovych plan emergency escape routes out of the country at the first hint of conflict, even hiring buses to wait by the studio 24/7 in case of emergency. Viewers watch the team and all their loved ones being forced to leave their homes and everything they know behind at 4 am on a random Sunday. Viewers watch as developers lose contact with their loved ones still in Ukraine, helplessly watching their old apartment blocks being obliterated by Russian bombs on the news in the meantime.

Those are just the developers who managed to flee Ukraine. War Game also shows a few brief glimpses of the lives of the developers who decided to stay in Ukraine. Some of these developers became soldiers overnight, some continued working on the game under a near-constant barrage of missiles raining overhead, and some died during the invasion. This is all just scratching the surface of what appears in War Game : The Making of STALKER 2.

But in spite of everything STALKER 2‘s developers have lost and continue to lose during this invasion, their work on the game continues. Before players jump into STALKER 2 on its November 20 release date, they should strive to watch this documentary and learn just how much the game’s developers have had to fight and endure to release it.