The publication Game Rant called the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Metro game series a continuation of “a rich tradition in Russian fiction”. However, the developer of Metro is the Ukrainian studio 4A Games, and the developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is another Ukrainian studio GSC Game World.
In the article, Game Rant journalists are telling the story of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series, starting with the books by the Strugatsky brothers, mentioning the 1979 film Stalker, and the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl, which was released back in 2007.
At the same time, the publication does not say anywhere that the games were developed by a Ukrainian studio, or at least that the events of the game take place on the territory of Ukraine (in the Chornobyl exclusion zone). But at the end of the publication, the authors add that “the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise joins a rich tradition in Russian fiction.”
Why is it important?
- Many employees of GSC Game World are currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine that is defending the free world’s democracy against the Russian invasion. In addition to that, Russian “gamers” blackmailed the Ukrainian studio and demanded apologies to players from Russia and Belarus for the studio’s “unworthy treatment” (the studio publicly takes a pro-Ukrainian position, donates to the army).
- Furthermore, they demanded to bring back the Russian localization (in the summer of 2022 it became known that the studio will remove the Russian voice acting from the game). And after the company denied the blackmailers, showing a principled position, the Russians simply published 15 GB of leaked materials.
- Moreover, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developer Volodymyr Yezhov died near Bakhmut defending Ukraine.
- And, after all these events, Western journalists with an audience of millions continue to say “Ukraine is somewhere near Russia”, easily attributing Ukrainian projects to Russian fiction.
Later Game Rant changed it to “Eastern European fiction”. It is still unclear why not simply write “Ukrainian”.
