Russian Government Looking to Seize Lesta Studio

Summary

The Russian government is attempting to seize World of Tanks developer Lesta Studio over Ukraine ties.
If this occurs, any money from the game will count as state revenue.
It's unclear how this will affect World of Tanks or the team behind it in Russia and Belarus.

The Russian government is attempting to seize World of Tanks developer Lesta Studio over ties to Ukraine. The MMO has had a tense relationship with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though things have been relatively quiet after some initial disruption during the early days of the conflict. Now, World of Tanks faces an uncertain future in the country as the state takes action against it.

Lesta Studio was once part of Wargaming, which still runs World of Tanks in most regions. However, Wargaming ended its operations in Russia and Belarus in 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine. During that shift, it moved control of the game's live services in those nations to Lesta, which split from the company around the same time. Despite that separation, the connection to Ukraine-supporting Wargaming has gotten the attention of the Russian government.

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By Dave Francisco

As reported by RIA, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office has asked the court to stop Lesta's ongoing activity and transfer all of its shares to the state. That would effectively move the studio under the Russian government, with any money from its shares counting as state revenue. The move comes as part of an accusation that the World of Tanks developer is part of an association involved in "extremist activities." More specifically, the Prosecutor General's Office pointed to the game's ties to Ukraine. Wargaming has been vocal about its support for Ukraine, donating $1 million to the Ukrainian Red Cross in 2022 and later funding ambulance purchases in the war-torn nation through Ukraine-themed in-game content.

Russian Government Files to Seize World of Tanks Developer Over Connections to Ukraine

Beyond those donations, Wargaming fired World of Tanks' creative director Sergey Burkatovskiy over a social media post stating support for Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. However, Wargaming is no longer in charge of the game's Russian and Belarusian operations. Still, Lesta was once part of Wargaming, and it's unclear how many of the original staff may still be working on the game in Russia. Regardless, the connection to Ukraine was enough for the Russian government to move against Lesta, which has filed a complaint against the decision.

It's unclear how this will affect World of Tanks or the team behind it in Russia and Belarus. It's far from the first clash between Russia and a video game company, too. In late 2024, the Russian government threatened to ban STALKER 2 if it contained anti-Russian sentiment, a threat that likely came about because of the game's Ukrainian developer.

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