How do you make art when you're at war? GSC Game World, the Ukrainian developer best known for its Stalker series of survival horror shooters, is better equipped than most to answer that question. The studio was hard at work on Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the long-awaited follow-up to Stalker: Call of Pripyat, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Development was put on hold as two-thirds of GSC Game World's staff were displaced due to the ongoing conflict. Several employees had to evacuate out of Ukraine; some stayed back to fight on the frontlines.