How Real-World Events Shaped the Story and Content of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

Slava Lukyanenka, the producer and creative director of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, offers an insightful look into the development of the much-anticipated sequel. He delves into the significant impact that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has had on both the game and its team, sharing how these challenges have shaped their approach. Lukyanenka also discusses the influences of real-world events on the game's narrative, the advancements in open-world design and AI, and how fan feedback has guided their development process. Additionally, he outlines the exciting plans for post-launch content and expansions.

I shouldn't be asking a question like this, but we live in a reality where it is quite an important question. How did the situation in Ukraine affect the game and the team?

Well, tough question. Obviously, it's not unnoticed. First of all, before the invasion started, we were a team working in one studio, so we always had each other on the spot if we needed to talk or solve something; there was always space. After the invasion, obviously, the team has split. Part of the GSC relocated to Europe—some in Prague, but part of the team is still in Ukraine.

Working with a distributed team in normal times is one thing. Working in war conditions is an extended multiplier on the complexity. Because, first of all, every game development company is driven by the people and the talents developing the game itself. You need to take care of them. And the Prague team and the Kyiv team have quite similar yet different needs because they are facing different problems. People in Prague are migrants. They are facing all the relocation issues. People who stayed in Ukraine are still under the bombs. At any time, a rocket can shatter a nearby building, hopefully not theirs. Sometimes we had situations where we needed to relocate people from Kharkiv to Kyiv. One of our colleagues had his flat destroyed by Russian rockets. I would say it's uneasy, and every week brings surprises, but we are thriving.

Is it even possible to focus on developing a game?

I would say that game development, in some twisted way, is a morale booster. Because when you have something to focus on, when you have a way to express yourself, to put a bit of your experience, a bit of your feelings into the game, it helps. So, I would say there are many developers who are finding S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 as a coping strategy.

How did the situation affect the content of the game? Because I know someone from the team mentioned some time ago that aspects of the situation in Ukraine would somehow be transferred into the game or its story.

Yeah, I wouldn't say it’s in a direct way, right? But let's say you see this poster with the Strider. We showed him last December. And somewhere, some attentive people might have noticed how similar his speech is to some people who were kind of blind to Russian propaganda. They were thinking everything was fine, the invasion didn't exist, nothing was going to happen—but suddenly, the voice of Monolith was gone, right? And they started to see the truth. Sometimes in the game, you will see reflections of our experience. It’s not going to be direct. But within the story, you could catch these motifs, these metaphors, which are the team's way of self-expression.

What are the story connections to the previous games? Because I noticed that the story is set further in the future. So when is it set and what are the connections?

I would say this is a direct sequel. Within the world of this game, 15 years have passed, and things have changed. Not everything—like, all the factions are still there. You may see several characters from the previous games and see what fate has given them as a result of the previous trilogy. You can read the new motifs and themes they have. Yet the Zone, as I said, is changing. Some things are changing visually. For instance, if there is a tower, it’s been there for another 15 years and needs maintenance to stay standing. These small details will emphasize how time is passing within the Zone. From the perspective of world evolution, time may seem to have stopped. But people living there, despite decay and a lack of technical progress, are trying to survive and build their lives within the Zone. So, yes, it will change differently. Yet it’s still a direct sequel to the original story. We are retaining the same characters, and you will see what happened to them.

How did you expand on the open world design and emerging gameplay that are so typical for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series?

I would say we tried to look at other open-world games that have been released in recent years. We found several mechanics we experimented with, but in the end, we went back to the original core S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mechanics. We decided that the open world should be changed in our situation in a way that it still feels alive. You still face random encounters, but we've added many different stories. Small encounters during your playthrough allow you to be a part of these small stories.

We opened some locations that were closed in the original trilogies, so you can see them from a different angle. We put a lot of effort into making the game more immersive. For example, there are many first-person perspective animations that support this feeling. You can interact with some objects even if they aren't essential to gameplay. We also added some cool features, like radio points inside the Zone. Each radio point will have its own unique music, which will be purely Ukrainian.

Can you describe the new AI system and how it has evolved from the original games?

I’d rather describe it through some situations. Let’s say I’m the player and I want to check out what’s happening with the Arch-Anomaly reefs. Remember that huge gravitational anomaly we showed before? You go into the basement underneath the reefs, find a stash, and as you’re leaving, you encounter a Poltergeist. You’re scared and try to run away because you don’t really want to fight it. As you exit, you see A-life spawning a couple of stalkers passing by. They are attracted by the events and see there might be something to loot as well. They enter the Arch-Anomaly. You continue to run away, and the Poltergeist starts chasing you. It notices the stalkers and now targets them. They start fighting each other, but they’re doing it in the dangerous center of the Arch-Anomaly.

At this point, anything may happen. If A-life decides, a bunch of pseudodogs could spawn, and the whole situation could evolve in different ways. You might join the stalkers, defeat the looters, share the loot with them, or simply step aside, observe how they get killed or die in the anomaly, and loot them afterward. In many cases, A-life tries to create a unique experience for you. In short, it shows that you are not the only one living in this Zone.

How do you ensure that the atmosphere of the Zone remains as immersive as in the past games?

That's a complex question. There isn’t just one recipe; it depends on the gameplay, how you stage the story, and how it's crafted. For example, from the perspective of weather, what you hear when entering certain labs, or what you see and don’t hear, there are many elements contributing to the sense of suspense. We don’t want the game to be a jump scare horror; it’s not S.T.A.L.K.E.R. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is about the expedition. It’s about being one-on-one with the Zone where every move matters. This means we have to make the game tense from a gameplay perspective while visually amplifying the suspense. By doing this, we aim to achieve a state where you are genuinely unsure if you’ll make it back.

Given the gap between the games, how has the development process and the team itself changed?

That's another huge question. When the development started, I wasn't there, unfortunately. But the team was around 20 people, maybe even fewer. Now we are 430. Imagine that during this period, there were several points when the team grew, and the way we work had to change. Working with a team of 20 people is different from working with 100 people, and working with 100 people is quite different from working with 400 people. Each time, we had to change our processes, adapt, restructure the company, and empower the talents within. This is the short version of it. And, as we discussed earlier, the team is distributed across different locations—not just in Prague or Kyiv, but also in places like Odessa, Warsaw, and other locations.

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has a huge fanbase with a really dedicated community. So, how has fan feedback influenced the development of the game?

Well, a lot. Since last year, when we showcased the game for the first time, we have received a lot of positive, negative, and mixed feedback. We released several trailers, and each time we showcased something, we closely observed the reactions. Thanks to the players' feedback, we changed several aspects of Episode 2, which we showcased at the last Gamescom. We also reworked the way dialogue animations look and changed the shooting mechanics. So, every public step we took was used to gather essential feedback.

Without feedback, you're essentially running blind. That’s why I mentioned that last month we were full of anxiety. Now it’s turning into excitement because we see that many things are working as intended, and that brings us joy. I hope we’ll keep doing that—observing media impressions and player feedback on our current demo—and, of course, we’ll definitely make further changes based on that feedback.

The original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. wasn't just a single game; it was a whole trilogy. So, what are your post-launch plans for the sequel?

We are going to focus on story expansions. We plan to release two story expansions as paid DLCs. Before we launch them, we will offer a pack of free DLCs that will slightly change the player experience and amplify certain aspects. There will be no previously cut quests because we didn’t cut anything significant story-wise. However, we could add new weapons and new possibilities for what you can do. So, yes, we have two major story expansions planned, along with several free DLCs that will include fixes and updates.