The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has got to be one of gaming’s franchises that’s gotten the most rumors surrounding it. We’ve heard a lot of news about each of the games, and to add to it we’ve even had rumors surface about the series’ developer, GSC. The last we’d heard about the series was that it was dead in the water, though a new rumor has effectively breathed some life into the glorified husk.
According to a Ukranian blogger by the name of Sergey Galyonkin, Bethesda has picked up the exclusive rights to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. property. How does he know this? Galyonkin posted on his blog that he apparently got the information from “a very reliable source,” claiming that it’s one he can trust. One thing to keep in mind about this blogger is that he does have a good track record with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. news. He’s the very person who tipped the community off about the troubles surrounding GSC.
Galyonkin continued to say that Bethesda only picked up the rights to the games, and everything else including books, films, and merchandise still belongs to GSC founder Sergei Grigorovich.
With this new rumor, we don’t know exactly what will happen with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, or the future of the franchise. The first game released with a lot of bugs, but it still created a cult following. Then a sequel, Clear Sky, released in 2008. Finally it was followed up with Call of Pripyat which released 2 years later. Since then it’s been diminishing hopes and rumors. Let’s hope that this news goes somewhere, even though Bethesda hasn’t made a comment on it yet.