STALKER 2 Studio Shuts Down Recent Xbox Funding Claims

Earlier this week, a podcast appearance by GSC Game World founder Sergiy Grygorovych brought about claims that Xbox paid more than the cost of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s development.

Speaking with OLDBoi, Grygorovych said that the money taken on from Xbox paid for the game’s costs “before the first day”. Now, in a statement provided to Insider Gaming, developer GSC Game World is refuting those claims.

GSC Says The Claims Are Untrue

Reaching out to Insider Gaming, a representative for GSC Game World said the company didn’t want to respond to Grygorovych’s comments, but felt it was now necessary “as continued silence may be perceived as confirmation of information that is simply not true.”

The company says his claims don’t contain the facts behind the deal.

“In accordance with the agreements reached between the parties, Sergiy was not involved either in negotiations with partners regarding S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 or in the actual development of the game throughout its full production cycle,” they said. “We have always fully honored these agreements on our side. For this reason, his comments regarding the company’s activities cannot be considered an accurate reflection of the actual state of affairs.”

They continued: “The development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 became one of the most challenging projects in the history of the video game industry. We believe the story of this game should be based on facts, not on assumptions or subjective opinions.”

GSC Game World says they are “sincerely grateful” to everyone who made the release of STALKER 2 possible, including players, partners, those defending Ukraine, and owner Max Krippa. Krippa, the company says, “funded the majority of the development budget.”

“We hope that such public statements will not distract attention from what truly matters to the team today,” the studio said. “GSC Game World is currently putting the finishing touches on a significant update for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, as well as its first large-scale story DLC. We will be sharing more details very soon.”