Gaijin Entertainmentis aHungarianvideo gamedeveloperheadquartered inBudapest.[1][2][3]The company is mostly known forWar Thunder,Crossout,Star Conflict,CRSED: Cuisine Royale(formerly known asCuisine RoyaleandCRSED: F.O.A.D.) andEnlisted.
 | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Budapest,Hungary |
Key people | Anton Yudintsev(founder) |
| Products | Video games |
Number of employees | 201-500 (2023) |
| Website | gaijinent |
History
editGaijin Entertainmentwas founded in Russia in 2002 by Anton and Kirill Yudintsev,[4]whose first big project was the PCracing gameAdrenaline.After the successful launch ofWar Thunderin 2012,an office in Germany was established, to manage global operations and marketing.[5]The company moved their distribution business fromMoscowtoBudapestaround 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, allGaijinonline gamesare operated from Germany, Cyprus and Hungary,[5]while the development is scattered across Europe. The company now has 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 fewsingle-player gamesin the 2000s, the company is now focused onfree-to-playonline titles. According to László Perneky, Gaijin's lead programmer, "Those who can decide on projects at the company mostly like to playmultiplayer games".[10]
Origin of company name
editGaijin Entertainment name comes from theJapanese 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 gameX-Bladesin 2009.[11]
Gaijin's logo features snail that is a reference toIssa Kobayashi's haiku,[12]translated by R.H. Blyth as:
O snail
Climb Mount Fuji
But slowly, slowly!
(Katatsumuri / sorosoro nobore / Fuji no yama; ốc sên /そろそろ đăng れ/ phú sĩ の sơn )
Games
edit| Game | Developer | Release year | Description | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bumer: Sorvannye bashni | Gaijin | 2003 | Game based on the movieBimmer(2003) | Windows |
| Adrenalin: Extreme Show | 2005[13] | "Adrenalin 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 ofX-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 | Avehicular combatMMO 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 |
| Age of Water | Three Whales Studio | 2024 (Early Access), 2025 (full release)[38] | Nautical online adventure game. | Windows,PS5,Xbox Series X/S |
| Aces of Thunder | Gaijin | 2025 (planned)[39] | WW1 and WW2 VR combat flight simulator. | Windows,PS5 |
| Cubic Odyssey | Atypical Games | 2025 (planned)[40] | Voxel sandbox adventure. | Windows,PS5,Xbox Series X/S |
Dagor Engine
editThe Dagor Engine is an open-sourcegame engineused by Gaijin Entertainment[41]inWar Thunder,Enlisted,CRSED: F.O.A.D.and other titles. It wasopen sourcedunder theBSD-3 licensein 2023.[42][43][44]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 thePhysX physicsengine[45]and has been updated to version 6.5 since the release ofWar Thunder.[46]Gaijin's Hungarian office is responsible for the further development of the engine.[1]
Controversies
editThe company gained notoriety for pursuing legal action against the owner of gaijin, an unaffiliated website that predates the company by seven years.[47]The complaint expired and was automatically withdrawn in November 2013.[48]
On 21 June 2020, adult actressEva Elfiewas sponsored by Gaijin'sWar Thunder,which sparked light controversy within the community.[49]On 23 September 2022, an official Eva Elfie decal has been added to War Thunder,[50]further strengthening relations between Gaijin and the porn actress.
In January 2021, after the logos ofWar ThunderandCrossoutwere seen in a video byDonbasYouTube channel "High Caliber Mayhem", Gaijin was accused of indirectly financingpro-Russian separatistsin thewar in Donbas.[51][52][53]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 theWar Thunderadvertisement 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."[51][54]
Following an in-game economic change on the 16th of May 2023, a large amount ofWar Thunderplayers began revolting against the developers[55]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,[56]posted statements regarding the issue and player progression on May 19th, discouraging players from participating in review bombing,[57][58]announced a revision of the economy for mid-summer 2023 and issued an apology.[59]Gaijin also removed Steam from the supported platforms on War Thunder's official website.[60]Steam hid the reviews[61]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 Player Union and started campaigning[62]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.
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