| Victor Kislyi | |
| Native Name: | Віктар Уладзіміравіч Кіслы |
| Native Name Lang: | be |
| Nationality: | Belarusian |
| Alma Mater: | Belarusian State University |
| Occupation: | IT entrepreneur |
| Years Active: | 1998 — present |
| Known For: | founder of Wargaming |
Victor Kislyi (Belarusian: Віктар Уладзіміравіч Кіслы) is a digital entrepreneur of Belarusian origin, founder and CEO of the Wargaming.net. Resides in Cyprus. As of 2016, his net worth exceeded $1 bln.
Born in April, 30 in 1976 in Minsk. After school he entered the BSU's Faculty of Physics. Graduated with a degree in laser physics and spectroscopy.[1] In 2012, he moved to Nicosia and received Cypriot citizenship.[2] [3]
Viktor Kyslyy created his first game in 1996. It was an online game based on chess, with parties played on a world map. As the industry was just beginning to develop, the game worked by email, but it could already be called a multiplayer game.[4]
In 1998, Viktor Kyslyy and his friends founded 'Game Stream', originally an offshore programming company. In the same year, he registered 'Wargaming'.[5] The first projects were 'DBA Online', 'Massive Assault' (2003), 'Operation Bagration' (2008) and 'Order of War' (2009). The first two games were not commercially successful. Great hopes were pinned on 'Operation Bagration' and its Western adaptation 'Order of War', but these projects barely managed to pay off their development.
The release of World of Tanks, a massively multiplayer online game, marked a significant success story when it officially launched on August 13, 2010. Initially free-to-play, the game later introduced microtransactions as it gained popularity. In 2012, Kislyi was honored as the Person of the Year by GamesIndustry International.[6] [7] On January 21, 2013, World of Tanks set a world record for the most players online in a single day among all games of its genre, with 190,541 players on one of the five servers in the Russian cluster, as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records. The game's success led to adaptations for Xbox 360 and mobile platforms. With the remarkable popularity of World of Tanks, Viktor Kislyi swiftly ascended to become one of Belarus' wealthiest businessmen, consistently rising in rank each year. He notably topped the list of Belarus' most successful and influential businessmen in both 2016 and 2017.[8] [9]
Following the success of WOT, two related games World of Warships and World of Warplanes were released later.[10]
As of 2013, 64% of Wargaming was directly owned by Victor Kislyy, with another 25.5% controlled by his father, Vladimir Ivanovich Kislyy. In 2016, Bloomberg estimated the value of Kyslyy's company at $1.5 bln, while Kislyi's personal fortune exceeded $1bln.[11] [12] By 2019, the company had 17 offices around the world.[13]