In the military MMO War Thunder, the conflict concerning a YouTuber has reached a new level. Producer Pavel Kulikov loses his job over the affair.
On Thursday afternoon, we reported on the entanglements of War Thunder with YouTuber Kirill Fyodorov. He had promoted a stream with a historian as if he were interviewing an employee of Gaijin Entertainment, but the person had only done a freelance job for them. An employee of War Thunder then filed so many copyright complaints that YouTube suspended Fyodorov’s channel alconafter.
Under a news post on the Russian site siliconrus.com a lively exchange took place between the YouTuber and the producer of War Thunder, Pavel Kulikov. Both accused each other of bad behavior. For a while, it seemed that they could resolve the issue. The YouTuber admitted mistakes; Kulikov stated that the ban of the YouTube channel was based on a misunderstanding – an employee had acted out of zeal.
NDA should remain secret, became public
Apparently, Kulikov subsequently offered the YouTuber a “cooperation contract” that can only be described as a gag order. The YouTuber was to release 4 episodes of War Thunder on his channel weekly and not mention anything that could cast a bad light on War Thunder. In case of breach of contract, a fine of $10,000 was threatened for each incident.
This contract was supposed to remain “confidential”, but the YouTuber leaked it to the Russian gaming site “Kanobu” and made allegations against Kulikov that amounted to extortion. In a confidential conversation, Kulikov allegedly said that they would only withdraw the “strikes” if Fyodorov signed the contract and ensured strict confidentiality.
The agreements went even further, as Fyodorov indicated to Kanobu. He would also have been forbidden to report on the competing games World of Tanks, World of Warships, and Armored Warfare . Topics that resonated well with his channel. Fyodorov would then have become completely dependent on Gaijin Entertainment, the developers behind War Thunder.
CEO of Gaijin Software intervenes
Following the Kanobu report, the CEO of Gaijin Entertainment, Anton Yuditsev, intervened and apologized to the YouTuber. He will naturally get his channel back. The producer had exceeded his authority, acted on his own, and against the guidelines of Gaijin Entertainment, and has already been dismissed from his position.
On Twitter, Kulikov apologized to YouTuber Fyodorov and thanked him for 8 years at Gaijin Entertainment. It seems that he has left the company.
