WG Statement Regarding Decision to Leave Russia and Belarus

[Boggzy]

World of Warships operations in Russia and Belarus will be transferred to Lesta Studio

Over the past weeks, Wargaming has been conducting a strategic review of business operations worldwide. The company has decided it will not own or operate any businesses in Russia and Belarus and will leave both countries.

Effective March 31 2022 the company started the process of closing its studio in Minsk, Belarus and transferred its live games business in Russia and Belarus to local management of Lesta Studio that is no longer affiliated with Wargaming.

The company will not profit from this process either today or going forward. Much to the contrary we expect to suffer substantial losses as a direct result of this decision.

Going forward, in all other countries Wargaming will continue to operate World of Warships as before. The game servers will be operating as usual, and players' accounts, as well as their in-game property accumulated through purchase or any other means, will remain unchanged.

 

 

[RMS_Gigantic]

Will Lesta continue to develop World of Warships out of St. Petersburg under some form of license as an independent company, or will Wargaming be relocating the development team in-house and out of Russia or Belarus?

 

In short, will this change affect the game's development timetable and/or roadmap?

[monpetitloup]

About time. 41 days ago would have been better but at least it’s getting done now.

[Seamus_44]

"Lesta Studio that is no longer affiliated with Wargaming" no, they will not work on WoWs as it exists in the rest of the world.

[yo_nelson_]

Not sure this new Wargaming statement helps those of us who are trying to understand how this divestiture of Lesta studios/Russian and Belarussian sites works as far as where our money goes if we make in game purchases.

The question I have is if I spend money on this game does any of it trickle back to Russian or Belarussian assets?  Is Wargaming separating from these assets on paper, but still paying them for services so that the game functions? 

[sasquatch_research]

Hey

What happens to the employees of both locations, now and going forward?  

 

Pete

[TankGir1]

Thank you Wargaming for helping me continue to play my favourite game with a clear conscience. You have left so I will do my part and go buy some doubloons.

[clammboy]

Well I hope all the Russian employees are taken care of and are safe most of them wanted none of this . Hope lesta is able to keep all of them employeed or WG is able to get them work out of country .

Good luck to WG moving foward I will continue to support the game financialy as best I can . 

Still love the game and feel this was a tough decision but the right one to make .

 

[Snargfargle]

2 minutes ago, TankGir1 said:

Thank you Wargaming for helping me continue to play my favourite game with a clear conscience. When Russia invaded I debated uninstalling completely, but decided to continue to play but never buy anything until Russia/Belarus left Ukraine. You have left so I will do my part and go buy some doubloons.

On the 1st of March, Wargaming donated a million dollars to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Wargaming has, or had, 550 employees working in Kyiv.

https://gamerant.com/world-of-tanks-ukraine-red-cross-donation/

[Kasmir]

Very sad day. I've long admired the work of the very talented folks at Lesta who built this incredible game. I will miss them and wish them all the best.

[Nevermore135]

I, for one, was looking for a little more information than just repeating the contents of yesterday’s press release. Hopefully more specific information will be provided in the coming days.

[Braxwolf]

"Continuing to operate as before" Doesn't necessarily speak to future development. Could use some clarity on this matter. 

 

Thanks for the response @Boggzy

[Boggzy]

No doubt you folks will have a million questions that we wish we could answer at the moment.  Remember that speaking about politics is still not allowed in the forums, so please continue to adhere to forum rules in this thread.

[Kasmir]

1 hour ago, Nevermore135 said:

I, for one, was looking for a little more information than just repeating the contents of yesterday’s press release. Hopefully more specific information will be provided in the coming days.

I suspect they're still trying to work that out. Left unsaid is who is going to be doing the development of WoWS? 

[Helstrem]

Just now, Boggzy said:

No doubt you folks will have a million questions that I wish I had answers for at the moment.  Remember that speaking about politics is still not allowed in the forums, so please continue to adhere to forum rules in this thread.

I am very curious about active development of the game going forward.  Is there going to be a disruption?

[chewonit]

Is Lesta still getting paid for the development and maintenance of this game going forward?

[Kasmir]

Another concern I have is for the future of the extensive mods for the game. My understanding is most of the mods were built and are maintained by Lesta devs on their own time...

[Asym_KS]

25 minutes ago, yo_nelson_ said:

Not sure this new Wargaming statement helps those of us who are trying to understand how this divestiture of Lesta studios/Russian and Belarussian sites works as far as where our money goes if we make in game purchases.

The question I have is if I spend money on this game does any of it trickle back to Russian or Belarussian assets?  Is Wargaming separating from these assets on paper, but still paying them for services so that the game functions? 

@Boggzy thanks for the Update.  As @yo_nelson_ said above:  before I spend a penny, "show me the money" accounting.   If history and actions from the recent past are somewhat or completely true, money in that part of the world has a tendency to "migrate towards certain individuals of influence...."   It's a very fair and valid question....... 

What's the corporate response?  I prefer to be an informed customer.     Some of us have a need to know because of our employment status.

[JediKitty]

Kudos to you Wargaming, now if you would just get rid of the lootboxes you might just be a respectable company.

[Glamorboy]

I am wondering if this means that from this point forward, WoWS in RU/Belarus will be diverging from WoWS in the rest of the world in terms of patches, game changes, etc.

Thus, the WoWS played in NA may differ greatly from the WoWS played in RU in a years time?

 

This certainly is a trying time for many.  I applaud the decision WG has made and it certainly must have been difficult.

[LieutenantJebStewart]

We'll see. I'm skeptical of a business operation just being transferred to another entity without further explanation. Business is still business. Money still talks and stuff still walks.

[Kasmir]

3 minutes ago, LieutenantJebStewart said:

We'll see. I'm skeptical of a business operation just being transferred to another entity without further explanation. Business is still business. Money still talks and stuff still walks.

Unlike WOT, WoWS has not been successful in Russia. There is no way Lesta can continue substantial development of WoWS based on USSR market revenues alone. My concern is not that Lesta will continue to receive money from the rest of the world, but rather that it will not and hence continued development of the game will be interrupted or halted.

 

[xTheCanadianx]

1 hour ago, RMS_Gigantic said:

Will Lesta continue to develop World of Warships out of St. Petersburg under some form of license as an independent company, or will Wargaming be relocating the development team in-house and out of Russia or Belarus?

 

In short, will this change affect the game's development timetable and/or roadmap?

it basically means buisness as usual    in the na/eu markets

[gtrman12]

I appreciate the difficulty and impact to your company and employees of this decision.  My thoughts and prayers are with you all and with all people who are, and/or will be, affected by the ever-increasing madness in the World.  Godspeed! 

[Ghawain]

This will be interesting. Hopefully we get more detailed information in the coming days.