S.T.A.L.K.E.R. misunderstood in US

By Robert Purchese Published 16 June, 2008

Not bright or flashy enough, says GSC.

GSC Game World has said S.T.A.L.K.E.R. struggled across North America because no one cared about a silly old nuclear disaster in Russia.

Developer mouth Oleg Yavorsky was speaking exclusively to Eurogamer, and said finding a topic to interest distant cultures was tricky.

"We've never had problems with getting Europeans to understand our games, and we have had problems with North America and Asia," said Yavorsky. "We've always tried to find local topics that will be relevant and interesting to people all over the world.

"Also, we've always created hardcore games, and the mass-market audience is now pretty much casual. Big companies always want you to make your game as easy as possible, so that any really non-intellectual person can play it. They want all sorts of tutorials to guide the player through, and this is something we've always been very resistant to.

"But then, everything, even up to the colour spectrum and how bright your game is, can be an issue. It seems that to appeal to North America you need really flashy, bright games, and you can see that every Eastern European game is very dark," added Yavorsky.

However, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. did review universally well, and sits at a very favourable 82 per cent on Metacritic.

Head over to our full interview with Oleg Yavorsky to hear what he had to say about the six years it took to make the game and why the Russian and Eastern European PC market was so appealing.

Alternatively, head to our preview of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. prequel Clear Sky to see how it's shaping up.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Svecke #1 4 years ago

    Translation = Stupid americans.




    j/k :p

  • dacicus #2 4 years ago

    So in a few words, the European market is more sophisticated and demanding, while the north-american market is dumbed down to a bare minimum. I'll add that I enjoyed most of the games that came out from Russia(Blitzkrieg, Silent Storm, Rage of mages - just to name a few). I understand that Gothic 4(made by the german Jowood) will come out in two vesions, due to the mentioned fact that the US market wants flashy, bright colors: one version which will have a bright palette of colors and a second version in the usual dark colors made for the european market.
    But the real prize for the game developpers from Europe it's to penetrate the US market dominated by corporations like EA or Activision/Blizzard. So you can't blame them if they try to do just that.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/08 @ 14:59

  • Hypercube #3 4 years ago

    I'm European, and I was put off by the first STALKER because of the bugs, the problems with several gameplay mechanics and the sheer slog of the first 10 or so hours. Many of my friends highly recommend this game, telling me that I just need to grit my teeth and get past the first 10 - 15 hours.
    Just saying it might be better to check your game is bug-free and unannoying before deciding that certain nationalities are unsophisticated. If they've made it run better for this prequel, I'll be giving it a go.

  • WrongShui #4 4 years ago

    Ambitious and misunderstood...

    Like Germany!

  • PearOfAnguish #5 4 years ago

    "will come out in two vesions, due to the mentioned fact that the US market wants flashy, bright colors: one version which will have a bright palette of colors and a second version in the usual dark colors made for the european market. "

    Incorrect. Gothic 4 will have a choice of colour palettes that you can change any time through the options, it's not two different versions.

  • kcorb #6 4 years ago

    with several gameplay mechanics and the sheer slog of the first 10 or so hours. Many of my friends highly recommend this game, telling me that I just need to grit my teeth and get past the first 10 - 15 hours.
    None of you beat the game in that time?

  • thedaveeyres #7 4 years ago

    Of course it's true... Americans are all stupid, english people have bad teeth, black people can't swim, eastern europeans are so soused on vodka it takes them 6 years to make a run-of-the-mill fps... it's all true.

  • Katsumoto #8 4 years ago

    lol. Of all the criticisms i've heard of Stalker, I think "run of the mill" is the least appropriate.

  • cyber_nicco #9 4 years ago

    Yeah, like Americans didn't buy Gears of War...

    If anything, maybe it has to do with marketing. Almost always there are different marketing folks behind marketing in the different regions mentioned in the article

  • Codger81 #10 4 years ago

    Most of the major success titles from eastern european developers in the last 10 years haven't broken in the US primarily due to poor publishing and marketing. I had a hell of a time finding decent European titles on sale anywhere but import stores.

  • smelly #11 4 years ago

    I would've bought it ... but my pc isnt good enough to run it.. tried the demo, it was like watching a flick show.

  • RazorObsession #12 4 years ago

    I just hope that both stalker and its sequels come to ps3 and 360 at some point.

    I have a PC for work and internet, and it does both fantastically, as low specced as it may be, but I cannot justify forking out thousands of bucks on upgrades just to play fewer and fewer PC games each year.

    if they are serious about hitting mainstream target audiences, then consoles will have to be the way to go.

    /misses the days when he had a ninja PC

  • Raziel #13 4 years ago

    Well, I'd say there's at least a bit of truth to it.
    Look at say, the Final Fantasy covers in the US and in the EU.

    The US always get the flashy cheap artwork cover, while we in the EU get the stylish white and logo cover.

  • manic_mouse #14 4 years ago

    I think the main problem is that there's no console version. A PS3 and 360 port would be awesome, I'd buy it!

  • zuul_ #15 4 years ago

    Yeah... I'm sure it wasn't the Crap Interface From Hell that ruined the game...

  • Hypercube #16 4 years ago

    None of you beat the game in that time?

    You're kidding, right? I spent about 8 hours just exploring n stuff. Don't get me wrong, I loved the game environment, I was just put off by a lot of the bugs, the interface and the 'quests'. But finish STALKER in 10 hours? Nah, I don't buy it.

    Edit: Or maybe I'm a very slow gamer!
    Edited by 1 at 17/06/08 @ 19:29