Lesta Games

History

2024

Change of ownership

Lesta Games, one of the leading video game developers in Russia, in October 2024 announced the change of the main beneficiary. According to data from open sources, 99% of the company again passed to its founder Malik Khatazhaev.

According to Kommersant, until September 30, 2024, the main founder of Lesta Games (Lesta LLC) was the Chinese company Lesta Hong Kong Limited. Changes in the ownership structure are recorded in the SPARK-Interfax database.

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Freepik

Representatives of Lesta Games explained that changes in the corporate structure are associated with the implementation of the company's long-term plans and its priorities in the Russian market. The company considers Russia as a key area of ​ ​ its activities.

Alexander Zhuravlev, managing partner of the EBR law firm, notes that the change in the jurisdiction of IT companies has become a trend in recent years. This is facilitated by various factors, including the amnesty of capital, sanctions against Russian persons and difficulties with international settlements. Among the companies that have already completed the change of jurisdiction, the expert calls the holding VK and Global Ports.

According to Zhuravlev, many companies, when deciding to change their jurisdiction, are guided by preferential measures to support IT-Business in Russia. Some are guided by the factor of manageability and corporate relations, and some entrepreneurs are changing their structure due to the reorientation of business to the Russian market.

A video game market source suggests that the decision to change ownership of Lesta Games could be due to the need to completely distance itself from Wargaming, with which Lesta was previously associated. The move could help avoid speculation about ongoing interactions between companies through the Hong Kong structure.^[1]

Buying an office building in Moscow

The studio for the production of games Lesta Games (creator of "World of Tanks," "World of Ships") has acquired an office building in Moscow with an area of ​ ​ 6 thousand square meters. m. This was announced on March 21, 2024 by Kommersant.

Experts estimate the asset at 1.9-4 billion rubles. The company said buying the building would reduce rental risks and savings. According to market participants, the office will help the company "gain a foothold for strategic development." As of March 2024, Lesta Games rents part of the building in the Factoria business center in Moscow with a useful area of ​ ​ just over 2 thousand square meters. m. In addition, the company has branches in St. Petersburg and Minsk.

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Unsplash

According to Gauhar Aldiyarova, head of the Moscow division of Lesta Games, the building is owned by gaming companies - "quite a rare story." At the same time, the company believes that in the long term this purchase will justify itself.

[Собственность] much more reliable - you no longer have to worry that the landlord will suddenly change the terms of the contract for the worse, added Aldiyarova.]

At the same time, the company's expenses, according to the forecast of the head of the Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry Vasily Ovchinnikov, should be reduced. There is a possibility of beating off the cost of maintaining the building by renting space to other studios.

The office acquired by the game studio previously belonged to Otkritie Bank. In 2021, according to Rosreestr, he moved to LLC First. Rosreestr also indicates January 22, 2024 as the closing date of the deal with Lesta Games.

LLC First (affiliated with family members of Alexander Rakshin, founder of Maria-Ra) actively invests in real estate. In 2023, the company became the owner of the former Otkritie Bank mansion in Moscow in Zhivarevoy Lane and a business center on Arbat.^[2]

2022: Investing $150 million in new projects

By the end of 2023, the Russian gaming studio Lesta Games is going to invest about $100-150 million of its own funds in the development of its business. The company reported this in mid-November 2022.

The product director of the World of Ships, Alexander Ilyichev, told Kommersant that the funds will be used to develop and support current projects, develop new ones, update infrastructure and hire new employees (400-450 people).

Lesta Games invests $150 million in new projects

Lesta Games was the Russian division of Wargaming and was engaged only in the development and support of the online action movie World of Warships. But from July 1, 2022, the company ceased to be the owner of the Belarusian SOOO Game Stream and the Russian LLC Lesta. The owner of the share in 91.84% of the Belarusian legal entity and 100% of the Russian company was a citizen of Russia Malik Atkhamovich Khatazhaev (data for November 2022).

Alexander Ilyichev said that after Wargaming decided to leave the Russian market, Lesta Games was faced with the task of turning a single product division into a large studio. He also acknowledged that this would require a serious increase in staff. By mid-November 2022, the company's need for marketers, managers and other specialists is 450-500 people.

One of the sources of the publication indicates that earlier Wargaming's revenue from World of Tanks reached $800 million, 50% of which were in Russia and Belarus. He admits that the developer can revoke licenses for Russified games from Lesta, so the company needs to. The interlocutor of the newspaper in one of the Russian game studios believes that Lesta may have serious problems with expertise.

Otherwise, Lesta will have to train specialists and technologies from scratch. It is long, difficult and expensive, given that the company specialized in the ship direction, - explained the informant.[3]

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