World of Tanks videogame developer Wargaming has announced it’s opening two new European offices after leaving Belarus and Russia. The developer closed its Minsk headquarters, but its new offices in Belgrade, Serbia and Warsaw, Poland will “reinforce the organisation’s global operations”, according to a Wargaming press release on Tuesday.
Wargaming says their seventh and eighth offices will host up to 400 new employees. “Wargaming Belgrade will house both international and local talent across development and publishing disciplines”, they explain. The Belgrade office will also reportedly focus on developing the World of Tanks and World of Warships franchises. As for the Warsaw office, Wargaming says it’ll be home to a “small publishing team for now” – with further plans to be decided as the company continues restructuring.
Wargaming also says the Belgrade office will “become an important relocation hub for Wargaming staff from multiple locations.” The developer hinted job losses were expected when the move from Belarus was announced, but there are no further details on what Wargaming’s staff relocation plans are at this time.
“Warsaw and Belgrade were logical choices for these new locations,” said Victor Kislyi, Wargaming CEO, “both are fast developing technology sectors with enormous potential”. “We look forward to working closely with both cities’ IT communities to build best-in-class game development and publishing units.”
“Wargaming continues to move forward with big plans for the future”, Kislyi added. “The Belgrade and Warsaw locations will be essential for accomplishing our goals.”
Despite once being based in Belarus and having a large player base in Russia, Wargaming has taken multiple steps to respond to Putin’s war. As well as ceasing operations in Russia and Belarus, a former creative director was fired over pro-Russia statements in early March.
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For more on Wargaming, check out the best World of Tanks best tanks guide, or our guide to the best World of Warship mods.