A war game caught by a real war. Online video games Tanks Russia will soon be prohibited. This follows a judicial decision accusing the study behind the “extremist activity” game. In addition to their prohibition, the company’s games will be requested their actions and their properties by Russian justice.
Lesta Games is the entity that manages the wargaming games in Russia and Belarus. The Wargaming company sold it to pilot its games Tanks AND War ship world In these territories, after the study left these countries.
A ban on a context of war in Ukraine
This decision is not surprising and has its origin with the war in Ukraine. The Wargaming study was born in Belarus in 1998. With the success of its games, the best known of which it remains Tanks (It has more 160 million players according to the Steam page of the game), the study has been able to develop international and open offices worldwide. During the pandemic, the study had more than 5,400 employees.
But a few weeks after the start of the invasion in Ukraine, the company has a total support for the invaded country. She fired her creative director for her positions in favor of Russia. But Wargaming does not stop there and comes to make a radical decision. On LinkedIn, the study announces to stop its activities in Russia and Belarus as of March 31, 2022. It will also close its study in Minsk, capital of Belarus, but also in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Wargaming will yield to the Russian company Lesta Studio the responsibility of administering its games in the two countries in question. This operation will divide the workforce of the study by two. Since 2011, the Wargaming headquarters has been based on Cyprus, therefore, the company manages the development of its games worldwide, with the exception of Russia and Belarus. It will regularly give donations to help organizations in Ukraine and the Red Cross of Ukraine.
If Lesta Studio is a different entity of Wargmaing, what is accused of? The company is in sight of the Russian government because it is accused of participating in “extremist activities,” reports the Media Novosti Ria. The respective directors of Wargaming and Lesta are accused of having supported Ukraine. According to the Russian news agency Tass, this is the first prohibition of a video game editor.
Source: BFM TV
