Although the common outcry from gamers suggests it’s often best to separate video games and real-world politics, sometimes outside forces cause the two to collide with such spectacular ferocity that it’s unavoidable. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine brought war to the doorstep of GSC World, developer of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, including its upcoming sequel Heart of Chornobyl. The conflict birthed undoubtedly the most difficult chapter in the game’s development.
War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a sobering documentary in that it practically places the game’s development aside to focus unflinchingly on the price paid by these men and women to simply do their jobs. It spotlights the dogged determination to survive, whether that meant escaping missile fire and finding relative safety near the western border of Ukraine or remaining behind to don fatigues and bear arms to defend the homeland. It’s utterly staggering to get a sense of the sacrifices made.
There are so many heartbreaking revelations within this feature. I’m unlikely to forget images of people huddling together for warmth after Russia targeted their power plants and grids, the pictures of all of the displaced children, or the everyday people of Ukraine answering the call to fight—which sometimes meant gathering en masse, as signed off by the ministry, to craft molotov cocktails, which might be the most video game ass thing in this doco. But as distressing as all of it is, it all comes back to unity and how these atrocities galvanised this team rather than breaking them.
To uproot and move on is a tough thing, particularly for a people so intrinsically tied to their home and culture. To shift an entire studio from Kyiv, with bodies numbering in the hundreds once families were accounted for, then having to “rebuild” in Prague to get on with work is a Herculean task. But it’s clearly one husband-and-wife team Ievgen and Maria Grygorovych, the studio’s CEO and the game’s creative director respectfully, were up to. In fact, it was their intuitive preparedness around the looming conflict that saw charter buses parked out the front of their studio all day and night awaiting the inevitable.
Andrew Stephan’s ability to focus on the issues that matter and not anchor this feature down with video game minutia obviously is in service of the human story here, and with Power On: The Story of Xbox under his belt, I do feel as though Microsoft believe they’ve unearthed a capable director in Stephan. The one thing I can’t help but draw attention to might be the apparent use of AI-generated art to aid parts of the narrative where cameras might not have been rolling, for obvious reasons. I compartmentalised it to not allow it to detract from the narrative at hand, but it felt an off choice.
What I learned watching War Game is that whether S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 meets its expected launch in November or not, the fact that this team has pressed on and displayed such unwavering strength and resilience is achievement enough. While I’ve no doubt critics, and series fans, will have their say once their hands are on the sticks, the fact this game exists at all is a miracle.
It’s so uplifting to watch this team share their experience speaking into a camera lens through tired, glassy eyes, and each of their stories prove inspiring and critical to their studio’s survival, whether through staunch leadership or lionhearted service. War Game is essential viewing because although it does touch on the trials of game development, its primary goal is to give flowers to a team who have fought like hell and covered themselves in valour in the pursuit of their art, as well as our entertainment.
And they deserve the whole bloody garden.
With the war effort in Ukraine still ongoing, donations can be made to the official charity fund set up by Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was produced in partnership with Xbox, the documentary can be found on either the Xbox or GSC Game World YouTube channels.