World of Tanks and World of Warships developer Wargaming was originally founded in Minsk, Belarus. While they moved their main base of operations to Cyprus back in 2011, they still retained links with Belarus. That was until today as Wargaming leaves Russia and Belarus behind. They will be winding down all operations in the two countries, incurring “substantial losses” as they do so.
Another company ceases operations in Russia and Belarus
Wargaming was founded in Minsk in 1998 and this is where their largest studio was based up until today. However, after a “strategic review of business operations worldwide”, the company has decided it will no longer operate in Russia or Belarus, withdrawing from both countries. The studio in Minsk will be closed down with “severance and support” given to those affected employees according to their statement on LinkedIn, as spotted by MauroNL.
All live games business in Russia and Belarus will be transferred to Lesta Studio. Lesta had previously operated under a strategic partnership with Wargaming but will now operate independently and has no affiliation with Wargaming any longer. The games will remain available in Russia and Belarus throughout the transition period and will be operated by Lesta in those regions in the future.
Both of these moves will incur “substantial losses“, but Wargaming is “confident in the future of our business and are committed to delivering quality games to our players.” The company will continue to operate from its many other studios worldwide, including those in Cyprus, Paris, Seoul, Chicago-Baltimore, and San Francisco.
In other news, Drinkbox Games has revealed that Nobody Saves the World will be getting a release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in just a couple of weeks. The game will also come with local co-op. Elsewhere, the PlayStation Now games due to be added tomorrow include Journey to the Savage Planet and Outer Wilds.
