20.Employees of GSC Game World, the Ukrainian company behind its creation, completed the game while navigating blackouts, missile strikes, scattered employees, and the challenge of restarting operations from a new office in Prague. Originally set for a release in April 2022, the game experienced several delays when many of its staff were forced to flee Ukraine that February. Ahead of the release this week, presales of the game took it to the top spot for games sold on the popular video game platform Steam. Like the 2007 original in the series, which has been played by millions, "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2": Heart of Chornobyl is a first-person immersive shooter game set in a fictionalized version of Chornobyl's exclusion zone after an apocalyptic nuclear disaster.