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Russian government seizes Lesta Studio assets

Russian government seizes Lesta Studio assets

The Russian government has seized the assets of Lesta Studio, the local company that owns Wargaming's assets in the country. 

State-owned media outlet RIA Novosti reportsas spotted by VGC – that the Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia has moved to absorb the company's assets over claims that Wargaming CEO and founder Victor Kislyi and Lesta Studio boss Malik Khatazhaev are "part of an association that carries out extremist activities". The court also cited headlines about Wargaming's suite of titles including the fact that Ukrainian soldier's have been playing them in the wake of Russia's invasion of their country. 

Wargaming pulled out of Russia and Belarus in April 2022 and sold all of its local assets to Lesta Studio. 

"Wargaming made a strategic exit from the Russian and Belarusian markets three years ago," a Wargaming rep told VGC. 

"The company disposed of its business in Russia and Belarus to the local management at zero cost and on a debt-free, cash-free basis, with no consideration to take it back. Wargaming doesn’t have any assets or business interests in Russia and Belarus." 


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.