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Gaijin Entertainment

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This article is about the Hungarian game development company. For the American company formerly known as Gaijin Games, see Choice Provisions.

Gaijin Entertainment
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryVideo game industry
Founded2002
Headquarters
Budapest, Hungary
Key people
Anton Yudintsev (Founder)
ProductsVideo games
Number of employees
201-500 (2023)
Websitegaijinent.com

Gaijin Entertainment is a Hungarian video game developer and publisher headquartered in Budapest.[1][2][3] The company is mostly known for War Thunder, Crossout, Star Conflict, CRSED: Cuisine Royale (formerly known as Cuisine Royale and CRSED: F.O.A.D.) and Enlisted.

History

Gaijin Entertainment was founded in Russia in 2002 by Anton and Kirill Yudintsev,[4] whose first big project was the PC racing game Adrenaline. After the successful launch of War Thunder in 2012, an office in Germany was established, to manage global operations and marketing.[5] The company moved their distribution business from Moscow to Budapest around 2015, and their development headquarters followed shortly after.[6] According to Hungarian tax records, Gaijin had 42 employees in Hungary by January 2022 and 56 employees by January 2023.[7]

Presently, all Gaijin online games are operated from Germany, Cyprus and Hungary,[5] while the development is scattered across Europe. The company has now six offices in total: in Karlsruhe (Germany), Larnaca (Cyprus), Budapest (Hungary), Riga (Latvia), Dubai (UAE) and Yerevan (Armenia).[8] The company has around 200 employees split between those offices, with 60 of them based at the Hungarian HQ.[6]

Gaijin Entertainment group generated 2.6% of all the Hungarian Software Industry profit in 2020.[9]

While Gaijin have produced a few single-player games in the 2000s, the company is now focused on free-to-play online titles. According to László Perneky, Gaijin's lead programmer, "Those who can decide on projects at the company mostly like to play multiplayer games".[10]

Origin of company name

Gaijin Entertainment name comes from the Japanese word for foreigner. According to Anton Yudintsev, he was dreaming to enter the Japanese market one day while staying true to their roots as a European company and accept their position of an outsider there. Gaijin actually entered the Japanese market with the release of anime-style action game X-Blades in 2009.[11]

Gaijin's logo features snail that is a reference to Issa Kobayashi's haiku,[12] translated by R.H. Blyth as:

O snail

Climb Mount Fuji

But slowly, slowly!

(Katatsumuri / sorosoro nobore / Fuji no yama; 蝸牛/そろそろ登れ/富士の山)

Games

Game Developer Release year Description Platforms
Bumer: Sorvannye bashni [ru] Gaijin 2003 Game based on the movie Bimmer (2003) Windows
Adrenaline 2005[13] "Adrenaline is a game that successfully blends the genres of thrilling adrenaline-pumping racing and an economic management sim."[13] Windows[13]
X-Blades 2009 Fantasy game.[14] Windows, PS3, Xbox 360[14]
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey World War II combat flight simulator.[15] Windows, PS3, Xbox 360
Anarchy: Rush Hour 2010 Arcade racing game.[16] PS3
Modern Conflict Mobile real time strategy game.[17] iOS, Android
Apache: Air Assault Combat flight simulation game based on the Apache AH-64D Longbow attack helicopter.[18] Windows, PS3, Xbox 360[18]
Braveheart Action-role-playing game.[19] iOS[19]
Blades of Time 2012 Spiritual successor of X-Blades, introducing a darker setting and more realistic tone. Windows, macOS, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch[20]
Birds of Steel World War II combat flight simulator.[21] PS3, Xbox 360[21]
Star Conflict Star Gem. Space flight simulator MMO.[22][23] Windows, macOS, Linux, SteamOS[22]
War Thunder Gaijin 2013 20 and 21 century aerial, ground and naval vehicle simulator MMO.[24][25][26][27] Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Shield Android TV(discontinued), PS5, Xbox Series X/S[25]
Skydive: Proximity Flight Wingsuit simulator.[28] PS3, Xbox 360[28]
Crossout Targem Games 2016 A vehicular combat MMO currently in open beta. It is available as an early access release.[29] Windows, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
CRSED: Cuisine Royale DarkFlow Software 2018 Battle Royale Windows, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Enlisted 2020[30] First-person WWII shooter.[31][30] Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
Crossout Mobile Targem Games 2022[32] Mobile spin-off of Crossout, a vehicular combat MMO. iOS, Android
War Thunder Edge[33] (also known as War Thunder Mobile[34]) Gaijin 2023[35] 20 and 21 century aerial, ground and naval vehicle simulator MMO iOS, Android
Modern Warships (PC version)[36] Artstorm 2023 Modern and futuristic warships MMO Windows, iOS, Android
MWT: Tank Battles[37] Artstorm 2024 Modern and futuristic ground and air battles MMO iOS, Android

Dagor Engine

The Dagor Engine is an open-source game engine used by Gaijin Entertainment[38] in War Thunder, Enlisted, CRSED: F.O.A.D. and other titles. It was open sourced under the BSD-3 license in 2023.[39][40][41] The original version of the engine was developed by Gaijin Entertainment, and in 2005 the separate company Dagor Technologies was established for continued development. Currently the engine incorporates technology such as the PhysX physics engine[42] and has been updated to version 6.5 since the release of War Thunder.[43] Gaijin's Hungarian office is responsible for the further development of the engine.[1]

Controversies

The company gained notoriety for pursuing legal action against the owner of gaijin.com, an unaffiliated website that predates the company by seven years.[44] The complaint expired and was automatically withdrawn in November 2013.[45]

On 21 June 2020, adult actress Eva Elfie was sponsored by Gaijin's War Thunder, which sparked light controversy within the community.[46] On 23 September 2022, an official Eva Elfie decal has been added to War Thunder,[47] further strengthening relations between Gaijin and the porn actress.

In January 2021, after the logos of War Thunder and Crossout were seen in a video by Donbas YouTube channel "High Caliber Mayhem", Gaijin was accused of indirectly financing pro-Russian separatists in the war in Donbas.[48][49][50] High Caliber Mayhem has denied any links to the separatist armed forces and published an explanation claiming that all the money from all advertisements on that channel were spent on humanitarian aid for civilians. The video showing the War Thunder advertisement was removed from High Caliber Mayhem's YouTube channel.

In response to the controversy, Gaijin stated "We do not provide political support to anyone anywhere. We know nothing about politics and prefer to stay out of it. Our agency that ordered an ad in the video in question took it down when they realized they might drag us into a political discussion."[48][51]

Following an in-game economic change on the 16th of May 2023, a large amount of War Thunder players began revolting against the developers[52] by review bombing the game on multiple platforms, such as Steam and Google. Since the changes have been announced, there have been over 65,000 negative reviews on Steam, dropping the overall rating from "Mostly Positive" to "Mixed" and the recent rating from "Mostly Positive" to "Overwhelmingly Negative", as of May 22. In response, Gaijin has since reverted the planned economic change on May 18th,[53] posted statements regarding the issue and player progression on May 19th, discouraging players from participating in review bombing,[54][55] announced a revision of the economy for mid-summer 2023 and issued an apology.[56] Gaijin also removed Steam from the supported platforms on War Thunder's official website.[57] Steam hid the reviews [58] posted after May 19th and marked them off-topic as the update in question was no longer a part of the game starting from that date. Some players launched a subreddit called War Thunder Players Union and started campaigning[59] for 2 weeks of "strike action" starting on the Friday 26th of May 2023 and ending Thursday 8th of June 2023. War Thunder Player Union had 14,900 members as of May 26th.

References

  1. ^ a b "Budapesten is dolgoznak a War Thunderen és az Enlisteden - interjú". PlayDome.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Az orosz fejlesztők államilag támogatott játékmotorral függetlenednének a nyugattól". GameStar (in Hungarian). Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Gaijin Entertainment | About". gaijinent.com. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  4. ^ "15 лет Gaijin Entertainment. Путь от "Бумера: Сорванные башни" до War Thunder". www.igromania.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Gaijin Entertainment | Terms of service". gaijinent.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b ""A videójáték-fejlesztésnek mindig is a gamerek voltak a lelkei"". 24.hu (in Hungarian). 18 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Gaijin Games Kft short credit report". ceginformacio.hu. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Locations - Gaijin Entertainment". gaijinent.com. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Halsperma-minősítéstől az űrbe: a közbeszerzési bajnok 4iG útja a legnagyobb magyar cégek közé | G7 - Gazdasági sztorik érthetően" (in Hungarian). 3 December 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
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  11. ^ "【TGS 2017】『War Thunder』開発"Gaijin Entertainment"CEOインタビュー―社名の由来や海軍について聞いた". Game*Spark - 国内・海外ゲーム情報サイト (in Japanese). 19 October 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  12. ^ "【5周年記念】開発会社Gaijin Entertainment×日本コミュニティ質問募集！～回答編～ - War Thunder （ウォーサンダー）- DMM GAMES". warthunder.dmm.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "Adrenaline". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  14. ^ a b "X-Blades". Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
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  17. ^ "Modern Conflict". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  18. ^ a b "THE GAME". Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
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  22. ^ a b "Star Conflict". Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
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  24. ^ "War Thunder - Next-Gen MMO Combat Game for PC, Mac, Linux and PlayStation®4 | Play for free now! - About the Game". warthunder.com. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  25. ^ a b "War Thunder". Gaijin Entertainment. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
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  28. ^ a b "Skydive: Proximity Flight". Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
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  31. ^ "Enlisted - MMO squad-based shooter". Enlisted. Gaijin Network Ltd. Archived from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  32. ^ "Crossout Mobile Released For Android And IOS - Lawod". www.lawod.com. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
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  35. ^ GamingLyfe.com (16 November 2022). "Military action Online Game War Thunder Edge Prepares for Beta". GamingLyfe.com - Gaming News, Esports News, Gaming Community. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  36. ^ Marasigan, Marc (10 October 2023). "Modern Warships Launches Into Open Beta On PC With Cross-Play And Cross-Progression". MMOs.com. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  37. ^ Dellosa, Catherine (29 April 2024). "MWT: Tank Battles is a military shooter coming to both iOS and Android in 2024". www.pocketgamer.com. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  38. ^ "Gaijin Entertainment | About". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  39. ^ "DagorEngine/LICENSE at main · GaijinEntertainment/DagorEngine". GitHub. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  40. ^ Dawe, Liam (1 November 2023). "War Thunder game engine Dagor Engine from Gaijin now open source". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  41. ^ Obedkov, Evgeny (3 November 2023). "Gaijin Entertainment open-sources its Dagor Engine, surprised to see Russian Nau Engine using parts of it". Game World Observer. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
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  48. ^ a b "Видавець гри War Thunder купує рекламу в відео з бойовиками "ДНР"".
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  50. ^ Maher, Cian (4 January 2021). "Russian War Thunder Publisher Gaijin Entertainment Sponsors Anti-Ukrainian YouTube Channel". TheGamer. www.thegamer.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  51. ^ L, Albert (5 January 2021). "Gaijin Entertainment Responds To Allegations Of Funding Donbass Separatists". Overt Defense.
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