Stalker 2 studio GSC Game World have refuted claims from their original founder Sergiy Grygorovych, who left GSC in 2023, that Xbox paid more than the game cost to make as part of an exclusivity deal for it.

In an interview with YouTuber OLDboi which appears to have been machine translated from Ukranian, Grygorovych is reported to have claimed that GSC "took more than the cost of Stalker 2" from the Xbox exclusivity deal, which he alleged Microsoft made after being impressed by the game's first trailer. "It paid for itself before the first day," the founder added.

GSC have responded to those claims via a statement issued to IGN, asserting that Grygorovych's comments "do not reflect the actual facts". "GSC Game World refrained from commenting for a long time on Sergiy Grygorovych's public statements about the company," the studio said. "However, we now consider it necessary to respond, as continued silence may be perceived as confirmation of information that is simply not true.

"In particular, his recent claims, including his statements regarding the relationship between Stalker 2 and the Xbox teams, do not reflect the actual facts. In accordance with the agreements reached between the parties, Sergiy was not involved either in negotiations with partners regarding Stalker 2 or in the actual development of the game throughout its full production cycle. We have always fully honoured 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."

GSC went on to say that "the majority of the development budget" for Stalker 2 was funded by the company's current owner, Ukrainian entrepreneur Max Krippa.

As of right now, the studio added that they're busy putting together "a significant update" for Stalker 2 and its first big story-focused DLC.

If you're debating whether to give the base game a go ahead of those additions arriving, here's James' Stalker 2 review from 2024, though it's worth noting the shooter's had a tonne of updates and fixes since then.