STALKER developer declared undesirable

November 18, the Prosecutor General's Office announced The Ukrainian company GSC Game World, the developer of the video game STALKER 2 Heart of Chernobyl, was declared an undesirable organization. 

According to the agency, the company supports the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the game portrays Russia as an aggressor state.

"In 2022, the organization's leadership transferred approximately $17 million to the Ukrainian military assistance fund, which was used to purchase attack UAVs, components, and vehicles." — the Prosecutor General's Office stated.

STALKER takes place in the Zone, an alternate version of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exclusion zone. Some of the game's episodes reference the Strugatsky brothers' book "Roadside Picnic" and Tarkovsky's film "Stalker."

The first game sold 15 million copies worldwide. The second game sold 1,4 million copies in the first five days of release on Steam alone. Within days of its release, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 entered the top four most popular games on PC and Xbox. 

Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Russian users of gaming consoles and platforms have been blocked from officially purchasing the game, and many are purchasing it through accounts in other countries. 

To avoid criminal prosecution for playing STALKER, Ark lawyers Recommend Configure Steam receipts to be sent to a non-Russian email address to prevent law enforcement from having proof of payment. It is also recommended, starting today, to avoid posting game purchases on social media and to have access to your purchase history to prove that the game was purchased before the developer was added to the "undesirable" registry.