At Lesta, the largest computer game operator (World of Tanks, World of Ships), they decided not to delay layoffs and began them on Thursday.
Lesta officially denied reports from the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info that the company was preparing for large-scale layoffs. However, Georgy Lobushkin, who was so fancifully introduced as the head of the company's PR department in August, was no longer responsible for disseminating this information. A week ago, he resigned from this position, and another person, Alexey Belousov, is now shouldering the slack. Today's events don't quite fit with Lesta's denials.
According to a source, on Thursday, the company parted ways with all interns (at least those from the art department), despite their internships not having yet ended. Also on January 29, the 2D department was informed that 20% of its staff would be laid off.
On Wednesday, interviews began with experienced employees from World of Ships regarding their transfer to World of Tanks. They were told that the transfer would be due to "staffing changes." Such offers are only made to a select few who are certain to remain with the company. The remaining World of Ships employees were warned that most of them should prepare for the "worst-case scenario."
"The mood within the company is terrible, as it's unclear what the new management will come up with next. There was a close-knit and established team that was producing excellent results. Dobrodeyev promised at a meeting with the team that nothing would change for six months." "As soon as those six months were up, it all started... Employees and managers don't hide their feelings toward Dobrodeev and his 'team' in private conversations in the smoking rooms, but they're afraid to say so openly, as they could be fired that same day," our source said.
As a reminder, in the summer of 2025, the Prosecutor General's Office "squeezed" Lesta from its founders and transferred it to state control. Boris Dobrodeev was appointed head of the company.
