The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office announced that the activities of the Ukrainian studio GSC Game Worlds were recognized as «undesirable.» The reason was the «Russophobic» content in the game STALKER 2 and the volunteer activities of the Grigorovich family.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office announced that the activities of the Ukrainian studio GSC Game Worlds were recognized as «undesirable.» The reason was the «Russophobic» content in the game STALKER 2 and the volunteer activities of the Grigorovich family.
«Currently, the focus of interests is financial support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the formation of the image of Russia as an „aggressor state“, including the dissemination of materials that discredit our country,» the statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation says.
It notes that GSC Game Worlds has repeatedly announced fundraising both on its own website and through the Lesia UA Ukrainian Military Assistance Fund and the Return Alive Charity Fund, which is also recognized as undesirable in Russia. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office indicated that the studio donated about $17 million to the Defense Forces in 2022, which was used to «purchase strike UAVs, components for them, and vehicles.»
«In 2024, the organization released a computer game promoting Ukrainian narratives, which contains aggressive Russophobic content,» Russian law enforcement officials said.
The Lesia UA Foundation, which is mentioned in the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, was founded by Lesya Grigorovich, the wife of the founder of the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World, Sergey Grigorovich.
Last year, Grigorovich showed off a mock-up of a high-precision bomb with machine vision that could be dropped from a drone, and the programmers who worked on the games STALKER and Cossacks were involved in its development. In January of this year, Grigorovich said that he had an idea to make a game «about a nuclear war in Moscow.»
Recognizing GSC Game Worlds as an undesirable organization means imposing Russian sanctions against the developers, including preventing them from opening offices in Russia or distributing «informational materials.»
After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, GSC Game Worlds removed its games from sale in Russia and abandoned Russian voice acting in STALKER 2.
After the game’s release last November, Western media reported that STALKER 2 «enraged Russian propagandists» and they organized a disinformation operation against it. It spreads fake information that the developers, in exchange for funding the project, colluded with the Ukrainian authorities to find more men of military age.
At the same time, Russian players who were able to purchase STALKER 2 through indirect means are concerned about the legal consequences of funding an organization that supports the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is now also recognized as «undesirable» in the Russian Federation.
