In the spring of 2026, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 fans had yet another reason to go on a hunt for artifacts—this time at ATB supermarkets. A joint project by GSC Game World, ATB, and Loyalty Games turned an ordinary shopping trip into a hunt for collectible copies of the almanac. The campaign ultimately garnered over 30 million views on social media, and its print run became one of the largest among art and gaming publications in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Melnichenko, CPO of Loyalty Games, and Iryna Gromova, the company’s CMO, spoke with dev.ua about how the idea for the almanac—on which the team worked alongside the developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2—came about, and why they had to urgently consider printing additional copies after the campaign launched. During the conversation, they also shared details about the case study, which later won two awards at a prestigious European awards ceremony.
How S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Ended Up on the Shelves at ATB
According to Iryna Gromova, CMO of Loyalty Games, the company’s team has long been working with gamification, interactive mechanics, and collectible products. Previous projects include, in particular, the popular Arena ATB cards and interactive augmented reality books.
The idea for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 project emerged from a collaboration between Loyalty Games and their long-standing partner, the ATB chain. The team proposed a concept to GSC Game World—owned by Maksym Krippa—that would take the game’s universe beyond the screen: to transform an ordinary trip to the store into a quest for artifacts and give fans the opportunity to literally encounter the Zone in their everyday lives. The developers supported the idea, and the scale of the ATB chain made it possible to reach a wide audience.
Several teams worked on the product simultaneously. Loyalty Games was responsible for the concept and structure of the almanac, the cards, the text, the design, the layout, the digital interactive component, and the production of physical materials. GSC Game World provided materials about the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 universe and ensured the content remained true to the canon. According to Volodymyr Melnichenko, CPO of Loyalty Games, the team did not create new lore but adapted existing materials, art, and narrative to fit the almanac format.
Separately, GSC ensured the product’s integrity and adherence to the spirit of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. ATB, for its part, handled the technical implementation of the campaign and the organization of online processes.
Printing in Ukraine as a Matter of Principle
Loyalty Games conceived the almanac as a sort of “entry ticket” into the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 universe—a product that would appeal to both seasoned fans and those just getting to know the game. The publication combined the history of the Zone, information about factions and anomalies with illustrations, while collectible cards added a collecting element, taking readers back to their childhood. QR codes featuring audio stories narrated by S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 voice actors were included as a separate feature. GSC Game World provided the materials and ensured the almanac’s adherence to the canon, while some of the content was specifically created and adapted for the project.
One of the main challenges was the physical production of the product: the team wanted to preserve the feel of a genuine collectible artifact. All products were manufactured in Ukraine, and the anthology itself was printed at “Faktor-Druk” in Kharkiv. When demand exceeded expectations, Loyalty Games began preparing an additional print run just two days after sales began. Within three days, the team also set up a special channel through which buyers could guarantee a copy for 399 UAH.
Despite the tight deadlines and heavy production workload, the team managed to incorporate some of the community’s feedback and correct errors in the first print run before the reprint. The additional print run coincided with a peak period for printing houses due to the production of school textbooks, but the project team decided on principle not to move production overseas and continued to print it in Ukraine.
A campaign that exceeded expectations
The initial print run of the almanac was 20,000 copies, and that of the collectible cards was 7.5 million. Although the campaign was planned to last six weeks, the entire first print run sold out within the first few weeks. In response, the team launched an additional production run: another 100,000 almanacs and 4.1 million cards. As a result, the total print run exceeded 121,000 copies, making it one of the largest figures for art and game publications in Ukraine.
The project also yielded significant results for ATB: thanks to gamification, the chain’s mobile app gained over 1 million new active users. On social media, the campaign generated over 30 million impressions. Internationally, the project earned two wins at the European Loyalty Awards—in the categories of Best Short-term Loyalty Initiative and Best Loyalty Partnership—Europe.
“For us, what mattered most was people’s engagement, support, and genuine passion for the project. That’s what inspired the team the most. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has long since ceased to be just a game—it’s a part of culture with its own history, one that an entire generation recognizes from the very first frames or familiar images. So, in this project, the fans’ emotions were our top priority,” GSC Game World noted.