We've just gotten a new look at Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl for the first time in months, and it's an ad for an energy drink with some surprising connections to the history of the series.
The 12-second video, called 'Become NonStoppable,' features a player popping open and chugging a can of Non Stop, an energy drink brand headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine. The footage also showcases Yaniv, a location returning from previous games, but the focus is squarely on that energy drink. As the video description goes, "experienced stalkers got an ace in the can, the same as 16 years ago. Reliable. Tasty. And refreshing, how it should be. Be Non Stop by nature, but keep a few in your stash."
A partnership between a Ukrainian energy drink brand in Non Stop and a Ukrainian game developer in GSC Game World makes a certain amount of sense as a show of solidarity, but this product placement actually predates Russia's invasion of the country by many years.
The original Stalker, released way back in 2007, also featured Non Stop energy drinks - albeit, only in some Eastern European countries. Everywhere else, the can design was replaced with a generic one that simply showed the game's title. As one eagle-eyed fan noted, the Non Stop energy branding actually appeared months ago in the last major Stalker 2 trailer, buried in a tiny corner of a brief shot of the inventory screen.
Last we heard, Stalker 2 is still set to launch in 2023 - and despite canceled pre-orders, GSC Game World said back in October that the game had not been delayed again.
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