Yura, I'm sorry! We've lost everything!

January 31, 2018 went down in history as a day of mourning for all tankers. There were already prerequisites for this event, but it was simply unbelievable. Alas, the developers of World of Tanks, Wargaming, announced the closure of the official eSports of their game.

It was a tough battle: eSports players begged the organizers for a long time to organize tournaments on tier 10 tanks, Wargaming poured huge amounts of money into the game - $40,000,000, so that people would watch the broadcasts, and the best players would create excitement.

However, there were 50-100 people online on the streams, the "world of tanks" was fading. NaVi is the best and most stable WoT roster, and they disbanded their roster. The fates of the players were different. Some of them went to stream, some stayed in WoT eSports despite its official closure, and some even took on the job of overseeing the sport as an official. But only one may become a new hope for World of Tanks eSports, but more on that later...

While CS:GO and Dota 2 were captivating the eyes of thousands of viewers, World of Tanks tournaments were laughed at: cyber sportsmen took up strategic positions and stood for “hours”, skating back and forth in an attempt to snag a corner of an enemy tank from cover.

But is everything so sad?..

Hope springs last

Whatever you say, people like "tanks". Having suffered a defeat in the race for the eSports Olympus, WoT did not lose the war for the hearts of its fans. To this day, the game enjoys fame, albeit in places not too bright. The gaming community of "tanks" has not gone anywhere, which means that there are both serious streamers who treat the game with respect, and lovers of mocking "tankers". But, as we know, there is no such thing as bad PR.

Not every game can withstand such a blow of fate – the official closure of eSports – but “tanks” gradually came to their senses. The game’s eSports went underground and became a national treasure.

Earlier we briefly mentioned the new hope of World of Tank eSports. And this is… “Drumroll” – Dmitry “LeBwa” Palashchenko.

It was he who organized his own tournament and, despite the lack of prize money, gathered all the old guard together. The tournament was really watched with passion. Not for the money, but for the dynamics. It's amazing how the style of the game changes when you don't risk anything, but participate for the pleasure, for the feeling of being part of something significant.

Worlds of Tanks is gradually going back to the times when eSports was a basement closed club for its own. The disappointing news in early April 2022 about Wargaming leaving Russia and Belarus only added fuel to the fire. From now on, the game is being developed by another company - Lesta Studio. The fate of the game has fallen entirely on the shoulders of its fans. And only time will tell what fate will befall World of Tanks: a dark horse or an ugly duckling...