All STALKER Games Saved From GameSpy Server Meltdown

GameSpy has officially exploded, and games are still fleeing from ground zero while green smoke and shrapnel billows every which way. It's been a messy process, to say the least, with some games finding happy new homes while others collapsed on the street side, never to rise again. STALKER, thankfully, has made it out at the last second, with whatever remains of GSC releasing a patch for STALKER, STALKER: Clear Sky, and STALKER: Call of Pripyat to migrate online functionality onto their own servers.

You can download the patch here. GSC explained it thusly:

"Because of the declared closure of GameSpy multiplayer game services, we made our own server intended to replace GameSpy. This update is required for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game clients (and servers) to enable establishing connection to a new server. All CD-Keys issued before are still valid on a new server. New players' profiles should be created in Call of Pripyat. Game statistics not maintained."

The new patch also improves V-Sync in high-end graphics cards, so hurrah for that.

Does anyone still play STALKER multiplayer, though? Did anyone ever really play it much? Personally, I never touched it, and now Survarium seems like it intends to take STALKER's barebones approach and turn it into less of a sideshow. Don't get me wrong: I'm super glad GSC stepped up and kept its game from withering to dust in GameSpy's uranium-green wastes, but what kind of community does STALKER multiplayer have?