The Tagansky District Court of Moscow is set to hear a case against the game development company Lesta Games on May 27, in a closed session. The case involves serious accusations of extremist activity that could threaten the company’s very existence, including its flagship titles World of Tanks, World of Warships, and Tanks Blitz.
According to a source close to the company’s leadership, the court may force Lesta Games to choose between liquidation or a forced change of ownership.
“The court requested documents proving the actual separation between Lesta and Wargaming. It gave very little time between the preliminary discussion and the main hearing scheduled for May 27. This is an extremely tight deadline to prepare a proper legal defense,” said Roman Makarov, partner at NSP Law Firm.
A major point of contention in the case is whether Lesta Games is truly independent from Wargaming, the international game publisher previously headquartered in Belarus and now based abroad under the leadership of Victor Kislyi. Prosecutors are also examining allegations that Lesta may have indirectly financed the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) — a claim the company strongly denies.
In a public statement, Lesta Games expressed deep concern over the accusations:
“We are going through a difficult period due to a legal process that threatens the very future of our company and all our projects, including several unannounced ones.
We face serious accusations regarding financing the AFU and potential classification as an extremist organization.
Our mission now is to prove our innocence and demonstrate full independence from Wargaming.
The court’s decisions will affect thousands of employees, millions of players, and years of contribution to the domestic gaming industry.”
The company added that the May 27 hearing is too soon to allow for a comprehensive legal rebuttal, stressing that the outcome could jeopardize the development of its game franchises and the livelihoods of its employees.
“Now more than ever, we need your support and voices. It’s critical to raise awareness of the situation and share the facts with as many people as possible. Help spread the word by sharing this message with friends and colleagues. Together, we can draw public attention to the fate of the Russian gaming industry.”
For more details, you can read the full article here: Izvestia Report (in Russian)
This is probably because WG did fundraisers for Ukraine and Lesta was owned by them officially till 2022.
GJ Wargambling, get rekt.
I doubt WG cares about the outcome here, or fear it. Especially their Ukrainian office
You just debunked your own idiotic comment. They are split as you already said. This example what Lesta spammers do. Lesta WOT cant even follow the law
Trials in Russia. GG
Rest in piss lesta
Guess owning a company in a kleptocracy didn’t go so well lol
Shit is shit!
How get my monies back?
report your expenses to your government tax department. They will be VERY interested to know how much of your money has gone to russia, tax free, via the internet. Or they won’t BECAUSE THE GLOBALIST ELITE ARE RIGGED.
lmao joke of a country
Wrecked by the very political system they praised so hard.
Remember kids, ruzzia always wrecks its own children.
It’s a game, keep the fucking politics out of it!
Aside from the obvious, this lawsuit against Lesta will be an opportunity for players across the entire world to truly find out how exactly the separation between WG and Lesta proceeded. Of course, that holds in case the court sessions will be public, which I don’t know at all; I’m far away from law, let alone Russian law practices.
The prosecutor’s office demanded that the press would be kicked out and that the trial would be held behind closed doors as soon as the proceedings started 2 weeks ago. Soooo yeah, I’m sure you can guess the outcome and what is to come.
The most common prediction right now is that WG and World of Tanks will be banned in Russia (with players in Russia already having constant issues with connecting to WG launcher for weeks now), and that Mir Tankov will be handed over to a different company (which will most likely be VK Group due to their size and their close ties to the government)
All extremists should be banned!
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of people
WoT has been playing on both sides for a while now, it was never going to last.
So they cant prove Lesta is independent, right? Becouse its not. Ban them!