WTF?! Apart from the bugs, Stalker 2 is an amazing game, but that's a statement Russia is unlikely to agree with. A bizarre new disinformation campaign that targets the title claims Stalker 2 is secretly being used by the Ukraine government to identify and locate conscripts for the war against Russia.
The campaign involves a video featuring what appears to be a watermark from tech publication Wired, writes 404media. The clip, which is spreading on Telegram and being emailed directly to journalists, claims that an embedded program was discovered in the code of Stalker 2 that collects player data and transmits it to the developer's servers.
The video goes on to claim that the information being collected on players includes device, name, IP address, and current location, and is transmitted every second. The reason for this data collection is to help the Ukraine government locate citizens suitable for mobilization, apparently.
Also see: Stalker 2 GPU Benchmark
The video also falsely states that GSC Game World, the Ukrainian developer of Stalker 2, made a deal with Ukraine's government to receive funding for the game. In exchange, it would help find "men suitable for mobilization."
The video recommends boycotting the game or playing it using a VPN.
It should come as no surprise at all to learn that the video is not from Wired. It appears to come from the same source behind the Operation Matryoshka and Doppelganger campaigns designed to spread anti-Ukraine messages, waste reporters and fact-checkers' time, and try to make people distrust news outlets.
Russia has been targeting Stalker 2 and its developers since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. GSC Game World has endured constant cyberattacks, including one instance in which hackers threatened to release images and artwork from the game if the company did not change its attitude toward players from Russia and Belarus, and apologize for the "unworthy attitude" towards ordinary players from these countries. It also wanted Russian-language localization brought back to the game and the unbanning of the "NF Star" profile from the game studio's Discord channel.
Some GSC Game World employees stopped working on Stalker 2 to fight against Russian forces following the invasion. One of these, Volodymyr Anatoliyovych Yezhov, was killed on December 22, 2022, during the Battle of Bakhmut.
While many GSC Game World workers were relocated to Prague, some developers continued to work on Stalker 2 in Ukraine amid relentless Russian attacks. You can watch the documentary about these struggles in the video embeded above.
Russian disinformation campaign claims Stalker 2 is being used to locate Ukraine war conscripts
