Advertisements for the sale of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl have begun appearing on Russian online platforms, but without mentioning the game’s name or the studio GSC Game World. Sellers are disguising the release as a neutral «Game Part 2» and trying to capitalize on hidden demand.
Advertisements for the sale of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl have begun appearing on Russian online platforms, but without mentioning the game’s name or the studio GSC Game World. Sellers are disguising the release as a neutral «Game Part 2» and trying to capitalize on hidden demand.
As users of the Gamedev.DOU forum noticed, the product cards show the characteristic art of STALKER 2, but the bottom of the box is covered with a piece of cardboard so that the real name is not read. The title of the ad only says «Game Part 2», so formally it is an «untitled» disc for the PlayStation 5.
In the description, the sellers also avoid mentioning the Ukrainian game, but instead directly hint at it: one of the lots says «Exchange for stalker2 is possible.» That is, the owner is ready to give any other disc from the ad in exchange for STALKER 2, which once again shows that there is demand for the game, even if they are trying to hide the brand.
The caution of Russian sellers is due to the fact that in November the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation recognized the GSC Game World studio as an «undesirable organization.» Officials were outraged by the «aggressive Russophobic content» and «Ukrainian narratives» in STALKER and effectively banned legal cooperation with the company on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Officially, STALKER 2 is not sold in Russia, so local sites operate in a «gray zone»: they import discs, change the name, hide the cover, and pretend to sell an abstract «second part of the game.» At the same time, the story itself demonstrates a paradox: the Russian authorities are fighting the Ukrainian project at the level of bans and statements, but players are still trying to get STALKER 2 by any means, even if this requires buying or exchanging for an «anonymous» disc.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute announced cooperation with the developers of STALKER, the GSC studio.
