IMAGES OF THE STATE AND THEIR TRANSFORMATION IN THE VIDEO GAME SERIES S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Abstract

The article analyzes the video games of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series released by the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World in 2007–2009 and 2024. It examines how representations of state organizations and state-affiliated organizations change throughout the series, as well as how these changes are connected with the cultural influences on the game developers and the transformation of Ukraine’s cultural context following the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The comparative analysis demonstrates that representations of the state in the series have undergone significant transformations. In the games released in 2007–2008, the Ukrainian military is predominantly portrayed as a force that is hostile toward the player, corrupt, relatively weak, and incapable of establishing stable control over the Zone. In the 2009 video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat, this representation changes partially: the protagonist is an agent of the Security Service of Ukraine, while state institutions acquire greater narrative agency, although they continue to demonstrate limited military and infrastructural effectiveness. In the 2024 video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the central position is occupied not by Ukrainian state institutions but by powerful international and quasi-state organizations: The Ward, SIRCAA, the IPSF, and the Supervisory Board. These organizations possess considerable resources, newly constructed infrastructure, advanced technologies, and the ability to influence the political order of the Zone directly. At the same time, their representations remain morally ambiguous: scientific progress is associated with human experimentation and new catastrophes, while the establishment of control over the Zone is linked to violence, coercion, and restrictions on individual freedom. These transformations may be connected with the developers’ reorientation toward a new audience and their distancing from the Russian audience following the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.