The offices of GSC Game World smells like a gas station. Kyiv-based studio, responsible for the hit classic role-playing sim Shadow of chernobyl and its hot live sequel TRACKING 2, stored thousands of liters of fuel—along with first aid kits and other survival supplies—in its corridors during the harsh winter of 2022. Who can blame them? Everyone in Ukraine is preparing for the worst.
International headlines in January and February 2022 warned that a major Russian invasion of the country was imminent. The conflict, if it happened, would be the most destabilizing military engagement on the European continent since the end of the Cold War. GSC Game World has delivered a legacy of tense gunplay, eerie atmosphere, and perfect side quests, but now the studio is forced to confront a much more pressing reality—a reality that transcends. the rigors of game development.
“Emergency buses are ready at the GSC office throughout the winter, with drivers ready for action,” said Maria Grygorovych, the show’s lead producer. TRACKING 2. (Grygorovych agreed to answer my questions via email, due to the language barrier.) “Evacation plan with all meeting times and places is also in place: Staff members are aware of their organizational responsibilities. their positions if action is needed.”
Ukraine is home to more than 200,000 computer programmers and engineers. In recent years, the country has established itself as a regional paradise for the tech sector—generating billions of dollars in revenue despite a supply chain that is being strangled by Russian military activities. (After all, most of those workers only need a laptop and an internet connection to record their hours.) In that sense, GSC Game World is one of many Ukrainian companies trying to stay afloat. remain operational despite mass displacement, total shortages, and frequent trips to public shelters that identify active war zones. GSC has a game for shipping, yes, but the company also needs to ensure the safety of its employees whenever bombs start to fall.
As reports from the Russian border became more and more serious and foreign countries began recalling their embassy staff in Kyiv, the GSC offered to move some of its staff to Uzhhorod—a medium-sized town near potential refugee concentration points in Slovakia and Hungary. Two hundred workers and their families agreed to participate, while others flooded into nearby Budapest. Those making the trip to Uzhhorod each packed a suitcase and brought with them whatever technology they could harvest from the office.
The mood, Grygorovych said, was strangely anxious and hopeful. Yes, GSC Game World has moved from Kiev, but the team has not left Ukraine yet. Many still believe that cooler heads will prevail and that all Russian attacks will be mercifully revealed as a forged sword strike. Wouldn’t it be nice if all the talk about this invasion went up in smoke?
Grygorovych explained: “It seems that anyone can return to Kyiv if there is no escalation. “This scenario was not destined to come true. Soon, an all-out war begins.”
Today, GSC Game World is a two-pronged company. While 130 employees are still in Ukraine—some of them on the front lines defending their country—200 have moved to Prague, which now serves as the GSC headquarters, after a refugee trip ellipse across Eastern Europe. It’s without a doubt one of the biggest challenges a video game studio has ever faced. Russia launched its attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022 at around 4 a.m. local time. Kyiv was immediately bombarded, and any hope that the Putin regime would seek limited territorial gains—limited to the eastern flank of the country—immediately vanished. Uzhhorod is relatively safe from bullets, but the studio still has plenty of staff in the Ukrainian capital. “Some people living in the Kyiv area believe that Bucha or Irpin will be relatively safe in any situation,” Grygorovych explains, naming the city’s two most remote suburbs. “It was miraculous that we finally managed to convince them to leave, considering all the terrible things that followed.”
