Should there be any updates regarding Wargaming and the current scandals, we will report on them here.
An original apology was indeed issued regarding a further scandal in the Warships context.
A senior community manager from World of Tanks has unexpectedly quit his job. He disagreed with a colleague involved in the scandal surrounding World of Warships. In a farewell statement, he takes a strong stance against his former employer Wargaming.
Who resigned? Zachary “CabMech” Doig was Senior Manager of Community and Events at Wargaming for World of Tanks. He recently announced his resignation and also explained in strong words why he can no longer work for the company Wargaming.
Update (September 10, 2021): There has since been a farewell stream and further tweets from CabMech on the topic, in which he came across as somewhat more conciliatory.
Warships scandal escalates – serious accusations against Wargaming
What are the issues according to the CM? As the main reason for his departure from the company, he cited the unfair treatment of former employee Elias K. Grodin aka “Gneisenau013”. He was sacrificed as a scapegoat in the scandal surrounding World of Warships to bear the responsibilities for the mistakes of employees in higher positions.
In his farewell message, the community manager strongly criticizes his former employer:
I am making this painful decision due to the recent resignation of a team member whom I consider to be a kind and competent person. This is due to what I personally believe is an unjust and incredibly persistent campaign, wherein the leadership of his former team intends to unfairly sacrifice him as a scapegoat, as they (in my opinion) desperately try to blame someone for the recent incident. In my opinion, there is a toxic corporate culture that perpetuates a cycle of serious mistakes that dates back at least four years – long before his time on this team and with explanations that are far above his pay grade.
The employee in question made mistakes, and when he was asked to publicly apologize, he did so, like the honorable man he is. And this was despite the fact that he was already no longer in the corresponding team. Nevertheless, some leaders from the relevant team initiated a relentless backroom campaign against him with the goal of getting him fired from my team. I can only describe this behavior as cowardly, despicable, and downright wrong.
Community members are also critical of the resignation of Gneisenau013, as he was likely one of the employees appreciated by the community. Comments like this one can be found in abundance on reddit:
It’s really a damn shame that WG did this. If they would fire all involved, up the entire [command] chain, that would be one thing. But we know they haven’t and won’t. Because that’s not how WG operates. For people who should be looking to improve the game and see it grow, they seem hellbent on letting it fail.
I hope that Gneisenau013 and other former employees have enough information to file a lawsuit or at least write a good expose article.
What was the Warships scandal again? The case referenced by CabMech involving Gneisenau013 is the latest scandal surrounding World of Warships. It all began when popular streamer and community contributor (CC) LittleWhiteMouse (LWM) was asked to design her own ship for Canada.
However, due to faulty communication, her designs were not adopted, and instead, a completely different ship was developed. When LittleWhiteMouse sought an explanation for this, she was rudely confronted and insulted by Wargaming employees.
This, in turn, led to her departure from the CC program. Since LWM was very popular, numerous other CCs and influencers followed suit and also turned their backs on Wargaming. Among their reasons were not only the treatment of LWM but also what they perceived as an unfair monetization policy from Wargaming.
You can read more about the scandal surrounding World of Warships in detail here.
A Community Contributor is a content creator who is given preferential treatment by Wargaming. This includes getting new ships to test, free goodies for giveaways, and sometimes even invitations to exclusive events. It is a coveted position that only a few content creators will ever have access to.
What does Wargaming say? Wargaming previously apologized for the incident with Warships and promised improvements.
Regarding the current situation with CabMech, there was recently a major official Twitch stream where CabMech was also active in the chat (around one hour into the stream). There he appeared conciliatory and also emphasized that the resignation was likely mutually agreed upon. Fans received this well, and there were also keys for a special tank commander inspired by CabMech distributed in the chat.
Later, there was another tweet from CabMech on the topic:
I appreciate the kind words, but I want to emphasize that I am fortunate enough to be in a position (thanks to savings and because I have no dependencies) to be able to afford this luxury. I do not condemn anyone who is not willing to take this step, and I feel nothing but love and respect for the vast majority at WG.
CabMech via Twitter
The tone here is therefore noticeably less harsh than in his first tweet, but it still stands out that he seems to have no warm feelings for a small minority at Wargaming, and his resentment towards certain colleagues likely still lingers.
Should there be any updates regarding Wargaming and the current scandals, we will report on them here.
An original apology was indeed issued regarding a further scandal in the Warships context.
