Despite official rejections by the authorities following the government's acquisition, Russian video game company Lesta is commencing redundancies

30 January 2026 , 10:06

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Despite official rejections by the authorities following the government's acquisition, Russian video game company Lesta is commencing redundancies

At Russia’s largest video game operator, Lesta (developer of World of Tanks and World of Warships), management decided not to delay layoffs and began implementing them as early as Thursday.

Officially, Lesta denied information published by media claiming that the company was preparing for large-scale staff cuts. Notably, responsibility for addressing such reports no longer lies with Georgy Lobushkin (former Telegram press secretary), who was publicly introduced as head of the company’s PR department in August but left the position a week ago. The task of responding now falls to another spokesperson, Alexey Belousov. However, the events that unfolded today do not align well with Lesta’s official denials.

According to a source, on Thursday the company dismissed all interns in a single day (at least within the art department), despite the fact that their internships had not yet been completed. Additionally, on January 29, the 2D department was informed that 20% of its staff would be laid off.

Starting Wednesday, interviews began with experienced employees from World of Warships regarding their transfer to World of Tanks. They are being told that the transfers are due to “staffing changes.” Such offers are being made only to selected employees who are certain to remain with the company. Other World of Warships staff members were warned that most of them should prepare for “the worst-case scenario.”

“The atmosphere in the company is terrible, because no one understands what the new management will come up with next. There used to be a cohesive, well-established team that delivered excellent results. At a meeting with staff, Dobrodeev promised that nothing would change for six months. As soon as those six months expired, everything began. Employees and managers openly share their views of Dobrodeev and his ‘team’ in private conversations and smoking areas, but they are afraid to speak out publicly, knowing they could be fired the same day,” the source said.

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As a reminder, in the summer of 2025 the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office seized Lesta from its founders and transferred it under state control. Boris Dobrodeev was appointed to run the company.

James Turner