The leader of Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World has spoken astir its troubled improvement and nan sadis crunch it suffered arsenic it tried desperately to get nan crippled fresh for motorboat amid Russian’s penetration of Ukraine.
Stalker 2 yet launched connected PC and Xbox Series X and S astatine nan extremity of November aft a number of high-profile delays and aft half nan improvement squad had moved retired of Ukraine and into a caller workplace location successful nan Czech Republic. However, half nan unit stayed successful Ukraine moreover arsenic nan warfare raged astir them, making improvement highly difficult. Stalker 2’s rocky roadworthy to merchandise and nan incredibly difficult circumstances its developers recovered themselves successful is astatine nan bosom of nan 90-minute documentary, War Game: The Making of Stalker 2.
Stalker 2's most precocious hold was announced successful July, erstwhile nan crippled was owed retired successful September. GSC Game World said astatine nan clip that nan other 2 months would springiness nan developers nan chance to hole "unexpected anomalies," aka bugs.
But Stalker 2 launched pinch a number of bugs and features that do not activity decently including A-Life 2.0, which governs nan measurement life operates crossed nan open-world. Following a screening of nan documentary astatine BAFTA successful Piccadilly, London, IGN said pinch GSC Game World CEO Ievgen Grygorovych and imaginative head Maria Grygorovych astir what went incorrect pinch A-Life 2.0, but besides much mostly astir nan game’s improvement and launch.
One of nan cardinal questions GSC has faced is whether it could person delayed Stalker 2 further successful bid to robust retired its bugs earlier launch. But some Ievgen and Maria said this would person been impossible, fixed nan crunch nan squad had already endured successful nan months starring up to November.
(It’s worthy base successful mind that English is not Ievgen aliases Maria’s first language.)
“Game development, it's hard,” Maria said. “Players tin comparison america pinch a batch of companies. A batch of companies person overmuch much budgets for development. So for america it was moreover harder because we are an independent company, truthful we don't person some, I dunno, large daddy to thief america each day.
“It's a problem that we are not truthful perfectly vanished for illustration we really wanted to do earlier release, but for america we can't do better.”
Ievgen insisted GSC Game World did everything it could to get Stalker 2 successful a decent spot for motorboat considering nan effect nan warfare had and continues to person connected nan developers. “We did everything imaginable considering everything that’s happening,” he said. “Considering really overmuch clip we have, considering what is our resources, considering, look, we person truthful overmuch people, but what portion of nan daytime - portion of our group don't person energy astatine each and they can’t work.”
Ievgen and Maria Grygorovych, acold right, talk nan making of Stalker 2 astatine BAFTA 195 Piccadilly. Photo by IGN.Both Ievgen and Maria admitted it’s difficult for GSC to make excuses pinch its customers, customers who astatine nan extremity of nan time person spent their money connected a merchandise they expect to activity decently irrespective of nan circumstances successful which it was made. But they hoped nan documentary would thief create a grade of empathy for nan staff.
“We can't show our players that each day, half of our squad don't person energy astatine each week aft week,” Maria said. “And immoderate of our group can't slumber astatine night, half of our people, because of drones, because of missiles. And it happens each day. And really tin group moreover past erstwhile they can't sleep? Can't activity because of electricity. For illustration now, a batch of our group person problems pinch warming their apartments, because it’s very cold. Now Russia is beating [targeting] nan spot [energy infrastructure] who power apartments, for illustration houses. But it’s nan crippled industry. We can't talk astir it.”
“We can’t opportunity to a player, look, it’s difficult to make nan game,” Ievgen added.
Despite nan bugs, Ievgen is proud of Stalker 2, which he compared to building a “huge ship” it hauled complete nan Atlantic. Maria, too, sounds happy pinch nan instauration GSC produced: “You dream that group tin consciousness for illustration nan crippled is there… It's not truthful cleanable that we wanted, but it's a crippled pinch soul.”
And it seems players person responded, too. Stalker 2 sold 1 cardinal copies successful little than 2 days, and presently enjoys a ‘very positive’ personification reappraisal standing connected Steam (84% of nan 64,872 personification reviews are positive).
But Ievgen isn’t satisfied. Indeed, he wants Stalker 2 to yet execute a 90% personification reappraisal rating: “For a imaginative person, we want to get an achievement, for illustration we did a crippled that 90% of group loved, not 85, not 83, not 86. We want 90. ‘But 89 is besides good!’ No! 89 starts from 8 and you want to commencement from nine. I spent six years. It's possibly for illustration a child's point that you want to execute it.”
Ievgen past admitted that he expected a overmuch worse personification reappraisal standing connected Steam than Stalker 2 ended up getting fixed nan bugs nan squad knew players mightiness tally into astatine launch.
“I expected to person overmuch little occurrence than we had from nan audience,” Ievgen said. “We were acrophobic of that… we cognize that nan crippled released successful a authorities that we would for illustration to make it better. And you merchandise nan game, location is ever immoderate bugs. We cognize possibly half of them. We cognize that we would for illustration to person much time, but it's our limitation. It was intolerable to make much than we were making.”
He continued: “We arsenic a developer, we spot overmuch much problems successful nan crippled than nan players usually face. So galore players didn't look 99% of nan bugs wrong our game. And we cognize overmuch much problems. And we were like, ‘what if players look this problem and we haven't fixed it yet?’ And because we saw overmuch more, we were overmuch much stressed. It was intolerable to opportunity really galore group would look this problem, aliases really galore group would look problems we haven't faced yet and we don't cognize about. It's a very stressful moment.
“So I was acrophobic that it [Stalker 2] whitethorn get it [the reception from players]] worse than it was, but still we want it better.”
So, why not hold Stalker 2 yet again? Ievgen said nan squad simply had thing near successful nan tank, equating nan improvement to moving a marathon.
“We were moving possibly 16 hours a time for respective months,” he said. “You are moving a marathon and location are 10 kilometers near until nan end, and you are truthful tired, and you say, ‘look, you person to tally an further 40 kilometers.’ And you opportunity that I can't but okay, and you are moving and moving and moving and running, and you understand that nan clip is going retired and still immoderate kilometers left, but you are not there. Not because you were not doing your best, you were trying to do your champion and you tin do it, but you conscionable request much time.
“But everyone has limitations, truthful it's intolerable to region nan time, to extremity it and to make it better.”
To thief you past successful nan Zone, we've comberan a database of Essential Stalker 2 Tips and Tricks, positive a guideline connected Things to Do First successful Stalker 2 to thief you done nan early game, and Things Stalker 2 Doesn't Tell You - everything we wish we knew earlier we started playing. Save clip scouring nan wasteland pinch our Artifacts checklist and locations guide, and each Stash location we've recovered truthful far.
Wesley is nan UK News Editor for IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine wesley_yinpoole@ign.com aliases confidentially astatine wyp100@proton.me.
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