Disgruntled Russian fans are blackmailing the developers of STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl. They intend to release tens of gigabytes of game data if GSC Game World does not meet their demands.
Update
GSC Game World Confirmed via social networks that the account of an employee of the company has been hacked, as a result of which images related to STALKER 2 were leaked. The responsible for the event was the community of a Russian social network, which then blackmailed. The developers pointed out in an official statement that for more than a year the study has been the target of cyberattacks, as well as threats and acts of aggression.
The developers thanked the loyal community for all the support they have shown and asked them to refrain from viewing illegally accessed resources. As they say, outdated or unfinished materials can harm the final gaming experience.
Original post
Coming from Russia, fans of the STALKER series cannot accept the decisions of the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World regarding the withdrawal of the game from the local market. A group calling itself Vestnik TSS threat leaked tens of gigabytes of material from the next STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl. The blackmailers claim to have access to the full script, descriptions of cutscenes, concept art, or maps. As proof, they have made available some of the resources of the VK social network.
Vestnik TSS claims to have much more data and intends to release it if for March 15 the developers do not focus on Russian and Belarusian players. They hope that GSC Game World will apologize, unlock the NF Star user account on Discord and prepare the localization in their language.
Blackmailers threaten GSC: Russian fan community is divided
Members of Vestnik TSS say that despite the developer’s “hostile actions”, they remain positive towards Ukrainian society. They urge the developers to “not let STALKER 2 die because of the politicization of the studio”. They also think the leak could cause the game to be canceled or its release delayed.
- Within the Reddit community, there is no shortage of voices that do not believe in the effectiveness of blackmail. As one of the website’s users, PseudoWounds, pointed out, titles like The Last of Us: Part II and Half-Life 2 (and many other well-known items) have experienced similar leaks. That hasn’t stopped its developers from releasing the aforementioned games.
- The Vestnik TSS lawsuit also caused mixed feelings among VK users. Some of them fear that the threats will only reinforce the Ukrainian studio’s belief that its decisions are correct. One can also read in comments in Russian that “the very fact of blackmail is depressing and will not lead to reconciliation or the restoration of trust”. However, it is clear that many people believe in the success of the group’s methods.
- It should be remembered that this would not be the first leak caused by Russian users: a player in 2022 published part of the game’s material in revenge for the “ingratitude” towards fans of his country.