Rumor: Bethesda gets S.T.A.L.K.E.R. rights

After the cancellation of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, members of the dev team at GSC Game World went on to found a new studio and start their own irradiated shooter-RPG, Survarium. Yet, according to a fresh rumour, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series may live on at Bethesda.

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After the cancellation of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, members of the dev team at GSC Game World went on to found a new studio and start their own irradiated shooter-RPG, Survarium. Yet, according to a fresh rumour, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series may live on at Bethesda.

A strange rumour indeed, but the source has been reliable before. Nival marketing director Sergey Galyonkin was the chap who broke news of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's woes, and now he claims a little bird whispered in his ear that Bethesda has picked up the rights to publish a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game (via Rock, Paper, Shotgun). GSC founder Sergiy Grygorovych still owns the brand, though.

According to Galonkin's source, Bethesda will put out a multiplatform S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game built upon its own tech, though Fallout 3 and Skyrim developer Bethesda Game Studios wouldn't necessarily be the team behind it.

This isn't the first time rumours about Bethesda dabbling in S.T.A.L.K.ing have swirled. They were denied in April, but something may have changed since then. Bethesda's declining to comment on this latest report, as it usually does with rumours.

Story image from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.

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  • reply
    July 31, 2012 8:15 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Rumor: Bethesda gets S.T.A.L.K.E.R. rights.

    After the cancellation of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, members of the dev team at GSC Game World went on to found a new studio and start their own irradiated shooter-RPG, Survarium. Yet, according to a fresh rumour, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series may live on at Bethesda.

    • reply
      July 31, 2012 8:25 AM

      Oh, yeah, this will be good.

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      July 31, 2012 8:35 AM

      Not sure the F3 engine would be good for an FPS.

      But on the other hand... UNF.

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      July 31, 2012 8:36 AM

      Well at the very least, they'll be able to nail the jankiness of the game.

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      July 31, 2012 8:37 AM

      Seems reasonable and is fine with me. Should turn out alright.

    • reply
      July 31, 2012 8:43 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 31, 2012 8:45 AM

      You have no idea how much I hope this is true right now.

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      July 31, 2012 8:47 AM

      Noooooo

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      July 31, 2012 8:59 AM

      S.T.A.L.M.E.H.

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      July 31, 2012 9:09 AM

      Ugh, with the terrible mousecode and janky physics of the Fallout / Elder Scrolls Gamebryo-based engine, what's the point? Use Id Tech 5 or heavily modified Id Tech 4, and then we'll talk.

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        July 31, 2012 9:14 AM

        what makes you think they won't use Id Tech 5? I mean i thought part of the deal with buying ID was internally they have access to the engines

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          July 31, 2012 9:27 AM

          Bethesda Game Studios (the developer Bethesda, not the publisher Bethesda Softworks) has made it pretty clear they don't want to use id Tech 5 and would prefer their in-house stuff. Pretty sure I remember hearing that they've shot down the idea of using it for future Fallout titles.

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          July 31, 2012 9:28 AM

          Also the deal you're thinking of is probably the one where no one gets to license id Tech 5 unless Bethesda Softworks is publishing their game. So by that token, if this is true the next S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game could use id Tech 5 if someone other than Bethesda Game Studios is doing it, otherwise in-house engine it (probably) is.

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            July 31, 2012 9:48 AM

            Argh..Bethesda Game Studio and Bethesda Softworks always confuses me. Isn't BGS doing that unnecessary Elder Scrolls MMO too?

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          July 31, 2012 9:36 AM

          That's the engine that powered Rage, right? There's your answer.

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        July 31, 2012 10:42 AM

        didnt skyrim use a new (non-gamebryo) engine?

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          July 31, 2012 10:44 AM

          [deleted]

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            July 31, 2012 10:53 AM

            The company that made Gamebryo went bankrupt in 2010 IIRC, so that was another motivating factor.

            Also, megatexture is hard to work with, according to Id themselves. If Bethesda is making a STALKER game, they probably want to release something within 2 years.

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              July 31, 2012 3:08 PM

              idTech5 doesn't really need to use megatexture. It's a big part of the renderer, but it's just shader assignments. Also, megatextures don't need to be unique like RAGE, they could be used to stream traditional assets- this technique is used in BRINK, and the new Trials game.

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            July 31, 2012 8:42 PM

            For what it's worth, Gamebryo isn't an engine, it's middleware. It's basically part of the engine, but it's not like they licensed an engine called "Gamebryo" because there's no such thing.

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        July 31, 2012 12:44 PM

        [deleted]

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      July 31, 2012 9:10 AM

      I'd rather see fallout using the stalker engine than vice versa.

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      July 31, 2012 9:14 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 31, 2012 10:41 AM

      Well there goes that series further down the drain...

      • reply
        July 31, 2012 10:47 AM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          July 31, 2012 6:22 PM

          I doubt Bethesda would "Fallout 3-ize" S.T.A.L.K.E.R. considering they made Fallout 3. They're not idiots, they're not going to make two games of different IPs that are exactly like each other.

          And before you say Fallout 3 is exactly like Elder Scrolls, they are very thematically different, while Fallout 3 and STALKER are very thematically similar. I'm sure they'd keep the gameplay similar to the original STALKER games. If they even make any more STALKER games.

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      July 31, 2012 10:50 AM

      OH GOD NO!


      Don't let western companies screw with the brand D:

      I'd rather see it die D:

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        July 31, 2012 10:55 AM

        Yeah I'm skeptical that an American (or Canadian or European) developer can match the atmosphere that the Russian studios produce. There just aren't any other games that feel quite like a Stalker or Metro game.

        I hope I am horribly awfully wrong.

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          July 31, 2012 10:45 PM

          I agree, they have a unique ability. Love metro.

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      July 31, 2012 11:26 AM

      Fk multiplatform.

      The stalker team was right to stay together and found vostok games. Nobody else can do it right except them.

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      July 31, 2012 1:01 PM

      NO. Please, as much as I've enjoyed Fallout 3 (never finished it tho), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a unique blend of first person shooter, survival horror and open world role playing (lite). I do not want to see what another studio does with the IP unless it's the guys from GSC who're now Vostok Games.

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      July 31, 2012 2:37 PM

      Hope it doesn't become like Fallout 3, especially in terms of looks. Fallout 3 and Vegas look like @$$.

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      July 31, 2012 3:36 PM

      "Get out of here hero of Kvatch"

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      July 31, 2012 3:52 PM

      I'd much rather see it go to 4A (the makers of Metro 2033 and Last Light), many of whom came from the original STALKER Dev team. The game would look devine using their graphics engine AND keep the same atmosphere that made both franchises popular.

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        July 31, 2012 8:33 PM

        fat chance. why do you think they split up in the first place? they don't like the rights-holder grygorovych

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      July 31, 2012 6:14 PM

      I used to be an adventurer like you, until I took an arrow to my stalker...

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      July 31, 2012 6:30 PM

      LOL i remember when everybody was complaining when they announced fallout 3

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        July 31, 2012 8:39 PM

        Fallout 3 needed a new modern engine anyway. STALKER has a good engine and a special feel. If they use Skyrim's engine for it (which feels pretty much the same as F3/Oblivion) then I will be disappointed.

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      July 31, 2012 8:50 PM

      Is Bethesda now THE post apocalyptic game publisher??

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      July 31, 2012 8:58 PM

      so the same degree of QA then

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      July 31, 2012 11:20 PM

      [deleted]

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        August 1, 2012 8:31 AM

        well, maybe you just started these games but some of us finished them long time ago and i am sure would love to see something new.

        i think Bethesda is a great studio or publisher (whatever!) and they can do something good, not sure about FO3/Skyrim engine though

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      August 1, 2012 12:04 AM

      I think this is fine, i actually finished FO3/Oblivion/Skyrim but not Stalker actually didnt finish FO:NV though

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      August 1, 2012 12:24 AM

      vaderno.wav

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      August 1, 2012 12:55 AM

      HEY BROken

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      August 1, 2012 7:14 AM

      Gonna be hard to replicate STALKER I'm afraid. The thing that made it unique was the cold communist feel in every element of the game. It's the only game where I felt the faults, bugs, and dead end levels actually added to the atmosphere. When a game like that is polished and balanced it loses it's edge.

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      August 1, 2012 8:55 AM

      good chance it will remain moddable.

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      August 4, 2012 12:02 PM

      great S.T.A.L.K.E.R. New Pripyat.
      sorry, i know a lot of people worship the ground they walk upon, but imo bethesda doesn't get it. the most accurate category i can think of to put them is is a "jump the shark" gaming company catagory. that is to say they take highly popular pc games with an almost cult following and just assume that it failed because it wasn't on console. Then they take the one and only gaming engine and style of playing "to rule them all" and they re-skin it to look like the titles they buy out.
      hammer of reality is that if it happens its going to be the same as TES and F3+ with Stalker skins.

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