Here’s what’s going on with Wargaming during massive protest in Belarus

Hi, I’m Barnaba Siegel, the editor-in-chief of Polygamia.pl and gry.wp.pl from Poland. And I’d like to put on a spotlight what’s going on with Wargaming, the creators of e.g. World of Tanks, World of Warships and Pagan Online.

Since presidential elections at August 10th the situation in Wargaming’s homeland — Belarus (which is direct neighbor of Poland) — is extremely tense. Hundred thousands people on the streets, mostly peaceful protester clashing with brutality of police and military services.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Belarusian_protests)

But what about Wargaming? The company got a bunch of offices around the world, but one of the main World of Tank development centers is located just right in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. I’ve been there in 2019 for Wargaming Fest, a huge local festival with The Offspring as a final act, and I’ve also visited the HQ (here is my arcticle: https://gry.wp.pl/co-slychac-u-wargaming-w-2019-to-proste-duzo-jak-zwykle-6432958666020481a). It’s a huge, huge building and there are about few hundreds people working here. So no wonder that the protest also hit Wargaming.

And here’s how — I’ve checked on Belarusian sites and got official response from Wargaming.

Whole article: https://polygamia.pl/wargaming-i-sytuacja-na-bialorusi-dostalismy-oficjalny-komentarz-od-tworcow-world-of-tanks/

Most important facts:

1. There were some gossips about soldiers inside the WG office — and they were false. However armed individuals entered local office of Yandex company.
2. Is the company hastily evacuating the Minsk office? As Wargaming claims — no, they’ve been already working mostly remotly due to COVID-19 situation.
3. Is Wargaming thinking about leaving Belarus? Yes, the last one is true.

As to quote, what World of Tanks creators wrote to Polygamia:

Speaking about relocation — we’re monitoring the situation all the time. We love Belarus and don’t intend to move. However the matters of safety and health of our employees are the top priority for us. For this reason we’re working on varied solutions, depending on how the current matters will evolve.

Thoughts about domestic situation where also expressed in an open letter signed by Victor Kislyi, Wargaming CEO, and several other representatives of Belarusian IT/gaming sector.

Whole lettere is here: https://probusiness.io/strategy/7453-glavy-epam-wargaming-i-drugikh-belorusskikh-it-gigantov-vystupili-s-otkrytym-pismom-k-vlastyam.html

Is there any impact on the games? There were some connection problems around 10.08 and afterwards, part of 10th Anniversary celebration was moved forward. So from the point of view of a player — not that much. But let’s remember it is people, who create video games. And there important events happening right now and they need to be heard.