Yesterday, MOP’s Ben Griggs deep-dived a shocking development in the World of Warships community: As many as 22 content creators had abruptly quit Wargaming’s program, denouncing the studio for everything from “aggressive monetization” and gambling mechanics to an abusive and toxic relationship between the company and its influencers. It was a situation simmering over the last several months but was brought to a boil over the botched sale of the USS Missouri, which prompted key creators like Little White Mouse and The Mighty Jingles to sign off, followed by almost two dozen others.
As of this morning, Wargaming has finally addressed the exodus in a brief message on the official forums.
“We are awfully sorry that AprilWhiteMouse and other CCs are no longer a part of our Community Contributors Program, and we’d like them to know they will be missed. We respect their decision and want to thank them for their contributions, devotion, and passion for the game and program over several years. We wish all of them best of luck and hope that they will stay in touch with us nevertheless, we will always be here to talk.
“We understand that there are several causes that have led us to this situation and that we have upset and disappointed many of our CCs and players. While some of these causes are self-explanatory, and our commitment to fix them remains, there are a few specific points we’d like to comment on:
“We appreciate the community feedback about Missouri being obtainable via Random Bundles exclusively in 0.10.7. We’ve been discussing this since last week and decided to add an alternative way to purchase the ship. We will provide details on our Devblog soon.
“On the topic of Missouri, we know that there is an open question whether her earnings are on par with the pre-update version, especially considering signal flags and camouflage bonuses. We’re carefully analyzing her adjusted earnings following the update, and will share our decision whether any adjustments to the mission are to be made.
“Regardless of AprilWhiteMouse’s CC membership status, we will stay true to our commitment to release HMCS Huron in 2022. She’s been added to our production plans and is scheduled to arrive around late Summer 2022.”
Players on the forums and on Reddit – including on r/games, where it’s still trending a day later – have already noted that the message doesn’t address many of the content creators’ complaints, doesn’t actually apologize for its handling of the CC program or the Missouri, and doesn’t seem to have appeased anyone.
