'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2' rights may have been acquired by Bethesda

"Stalker 2" rights may have been acquired by Bethesda.

Bethesda may have acquired the rights to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, the sequel to the open world first-person shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R., according to a Ukranian blogger.

According to blogger Sergey Galyonkin, a source says Bethesda has the rights to the extended Stalker universe although developer GSC Game World has not sold the brand.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was announced in August 2010 for a 2012 release. In December 2011 GSC denied rumors of the studio's shutdown and the game's discontinued development. It was confirmed cancelled shortly after, the team citing disagreements with the franchise's owners as the cause of cancellation.

"The reason we cannot continue with the development of Stalker 2 is we and our new investors we unable to come to an agreement with the IP rights owner," read a post on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's official Facebook page. Following the fallout, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R team joined development on Vostok Games' survival-horror FPS Survarium.

Bethesda's vice president of public relations and marketing Pete Hines said the company doesn't comment on rumors.