Video game animator Andrii “Nizrok” Korzinkin who worked for the development of Metro Exodus was reportedly a casualty of the War in Ukraine.

Nizrok was a game developer that worked on the development of Metro Exodus as part of 4A Games. His death was reported by a colleague, Leonid Stepanov, through a tweet dedicated to him. Stepanov's post shared that Nizrok “died while performing a combat mission in the struggle for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

The Twitter thread also detailed a part of Nizrok's journey as an animator, in his pursuit of a video game development career as an animator, and how he also learned design and coding to reach his ultimate goal. Sadly, as Stepanov pointed out, that's no longer possible now. Stepanov also shared in the thread several statements from friends and colleagues memorializing Nizrok.

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The War in Ukraine has been raging on and taking lives since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, which eventually led to the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The war escalated this year when Russia continued its mobilization in February this year which led to more territorial occupation by Russia. Most recently, however, Ukraine has started a counter-offensive operation that led to the reclamation of some of its territories. Still, the war rages on and has no signs of stopping, as Russia starts to draft civilians into active duty to help bolster its offensive.

The war directly affected the video gaming industry by disrupting the development and production of video game studios located in Ukraine, most notably GSC Game World and their work on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. However, more importantly, the war has taken the lives and livelihood of many people, which includes more than just game developers. Whatever your stance is regarding the war, it's important to remember its effects on the people who live on the ground – that it is destructive and leads to many potential futures being destroyed, dreams snuffed out, and lives eradicated.