Based in Kyiv until the Russian invasion – and still mourning colleagues who went to the frontline – the makers of long-awaited apocalyptic survival game Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl describe how their lives began imitating their art
On 24 February 2022, at 4am local time, Russian forces crossed the border, invading Ukraine from the north, east and south, shelling more than a dozen cities and killing 40 Ukrainian soldiers in 24 hours.
Luckily, those ominous blacked-out buses had sprung into action a week prior, whisking more than 200 GSC employees and their families to Uzhgorod, a town on the Ukrainian border.
For the last 13 years, GSC has been diligently working on the globally anticipated direct sequel to its 4m-selling 2007 cult classic Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, an apocalyptic survival game depicting the aftermath of a second Chornobyl disaster in a war-ravaged Ukraine.
One member of the HR team gave birth during the active stage of the invasion, and other staff were already grieving dead loved ones before they’d reached their destination.
So attention was paid to ensuring the new Prague HQ sported familiar branding and ambience, in an attempt to provide some semblance of normality and respite from the horrors of war.
Aside from the threat of Russian counterattack, a more pressing danger lies in the hundreds of thousands of unexploded landmines left in the invaders’ wake – a constant worry to Kyiv’s civilian populace.
The original article contains 1,732 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 89%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
On 24 February 2022, at 4am local time, Russian forces crossed the border, invading Ukraine from the north, east and south, shelling more than a dozen cities and killing 40 Ukrainian soldiers in 24 hours.
Luckily, those ominous blacked-out buses had sprung into action a week prior, whisking more than 200 GSC employees and their families to Uzhgorod, a town on the Ukrainian border.
For the last 13 years, GSC has been diligently working on the globally anticipated direct sequel to its 4m-selling 2007 cult classic Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, an apocalyptic survival game depicting the aftermath of a second Chornobyl disaster in a war-ravaged Ukraine.
One member of the HR team gave birth during the active stage of the invasion, and other staff were already grieving dead loved ones before they’d reached their destination.
So attention was paid to ensuring the new Prague HQ sported familiar branding and ambience, in an attempt to provide some semblance of normality and respite from the horrors of war.
Aside from the threat of Russian counterattack, a more pressing danger lies in the hundreds of thousands of unexploded landmines left in the invaders’ wake – a constant worry to Kyiv’s civilian populace.
The original article contains 1,732 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 89%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!