After the tumultuous end of GSC Gameworld, the team splintered and the rights to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series were part of a confusing little verbal war that went on between several parties. Though a good chunk of that original team went to form 4A and create the post-apoc FPS series known as Metro (And another group creating the MMOFPS Survarium), the company that created S.T.A.L.K.E.R. itself was no more.

Shockingly, news has come out of a Q & A that reveals GSC Gameworld is back in business.

The interview is short, but has a few juicy tidbits that their fans may find interesting. GSC seems to be gearing up to make a new title marketed towards older gamers, and makes a point to mention how their fans have aged since the last game they’ve made, which means their next project has to accommodate for that changed taste. Also, they strongly deny any urge to move out of the Ukraine, even though their sister team 4A recently did so due to the Russian incursion and the revolts that have taken place.

Perhaps most interesting is what was said about the drama involving West Games and their Areal project:

• What happened with the West Games claims about the STALKER assets and team?

“I don’t really know enough about them, but the story is quite funny. These guys were basically promoting themselves as being the STALKER team, that they were working on STALKER, but that’s not true. When we were working on STALKER 2, we were also planning on releasing a browser game based on STALKER so we could keep the audience engaged until released.

“That project was never finished. There were mistakes. But the guys at West Games, that was the STALKER project they were working on – a flash game. So when they promoted themselves as having worked on STALKER, I was quite surprised. We would definitely win the legal action against them, but we won’t start it. They used a lot of the ideas from STALKER… I don’t know what they were thinking, starting that. I haven’t heard from them for quite a while.”

It would seem GSC has no interest in pursuing a legal case against West Games, which may be smart since it seems unlikely whatever game they are working on will reach its funding goal.