Belarusian Devs Delay Cyberpunk Game Due To Ongoing War In Ukraine

In February, Russian forces invaded Ukraine, staging a ground invasion and launching airstrikes on major metropolitan areas. The war is an extended humanitarian crisis; to date, according to the United Nations, Ukraine has sustained close to 8,500 civilian casualties. Russia is supported by Belarus, where Russian troops gathered before the invasion. The authoritarian Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, is a long-time ally of Russia—and, more specifically, its authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin.

Read More: Missiles And Massacres: Ukrainian Game Developers Persist Amid The Russian Invasion

The war has had a major impact on game development in the region. Though some developers have remained in the country—due to a wide range of reasons, as detailed in an extensive Kotaku report—others have relocated. Frogwares, a Kyiv-based studio known for the Sherlock Holmes games, plans to relocate elsewhere in Europe. (In March, Frogwares released a Switch port of Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter.) GSC World, currently developing S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 for Xbox Series X/S and PC, resumed development on the survival shooter this week following the studio’s relocation to Prague. According to figures from the United Nations, 14 million Ukrainian citizens have fled their homes over the past few months.