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Just weeks after Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl finally solidified its Q1 2024 release window and the team saw its hard work hacked and leaked, the survival horror shooter has suffered another set back: a devastating fire.
While no one was hurt, an “electrical fire” has seemingly destroyed one of the three floors GSC Game World inhabits in its office building in Prague, with some reports intimating that the fire has compromised the team’s “backup servers”.
Update from Devs : They are fine and Development will carry on as they have dealt worse in the past. pic.twitter.com/XUpJ1OoEN1September 9, 2023
As first reported by Vortex and then shared by HazzadorGamin, it seems the fire took hold on Thursday night, and did quite a bit of damage before the blaze was brought under control.
“It is true,” said GSC Game World’s Mol1t, responding to one of many concerned questions from fans on the game’s Discord channel.
“Fortunately, none of the employees or office staff were injured in the accident. A fire broke out in our offices in Prague in Thursday. Even though the fire was successfully put out, one of the office floors now requires a full restoration. Further details of the accident are still being investigated.
“We express our deepest appreciation for your questions and the words of support we have been receiving.
“No anomaly, not even a ‘Burner’, will make us stop in our pursuit of our final goal. We’ve dealt with worse than that before. This is fine.”
The team says the cause of the incident is still under investigation.
GSC Game World also recently revealed that Russian hackers leaked test builds and other stolen material into the public domain.
After being hacked for “almost a year and a half”, GSC Game World stated on Twitter that Russian hackers have been able to “access and compromise some of [its] leaked information intended for internal testing”.
GSC Game World appealed to fans not to “look at or share and leaked materials from the game” in case it “ruin[ed] your experience of exploring the Zone by yourself”.
The team revealed that the hackers had taken advantage of a vulnerability, and whilst frustrating, it at least meant GSC could identify where the issue was and address it before its release.
“It just feels like Stalker 2 wasn’t quite ready to be shown off yet,” TRG’s editor-in-chief, Jake, wrote when he previewed Stalker 2 at Gamescom 2023.
“I’m hoping to put the buggy time out of my head and focus, instead, on how comfortingly familiar it feels, and how beautiful the team has managed to make a murky swamp and some ruined buildings look. Based on what I’ve played here, in early 2024, no matter what happens, I’ll be returning to The Zone.”
Stalker 2 remains one of the most anticipated upcoming games of 2023 and could yet be one of the best FPS games of the year.