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Wargaming grabs Total Annihilation and Master of Orion IPs
Wargaming has ambitious plans for the company's 15th anniversary this year, starting with the acquisition of two well-known IPs: Total Annihilation and Master of Orion. Master of Orion is an acclaimed 4X sci-fi strategy series that began in 1993, while Total Annihilation was a popular RTS from 1997. CEO Victor Kislyi teased the possibilities that these IP pickups represent: "Total Annihilation and Master of Orion are strategy game classics. Although it's too soon to disclose any details, we are more than willing to give a new lease of life to these games most of us grew up playing. It's exactly where our major focus will be." Beyond that, Wargamming announced that it has opened a new office in Austin, Texas to help smooth the flow of communication and production processes between its teams and studios. The team also announced the inclusion of British planes in World of Warplanes, which you can see in the reveal video after the jump. [Source: Wargaming press release]
PAX Australia 2013: Massively interviews Wargaming's Victor Kislyi
Sometimes Australia does get the big names! Massively's David "Psykopig" Desi met up with the Wargaming crew at this year's PAX Australia, and fortunately for you he filmed the whole thing! Wargaming was on hand to talk up its Australian World of Tanks servers as well as elaborate on its plans for a substantial push into the Asia/Pacific region. Join us after the break as the infamous Pig interviews Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi on the current state of World Tanks, World of Warplanes, and World of Warships, as well as what fans can expect in the future.
Wargaming CEO: Current Xbox certification process "unacceptable" for free-to-play
Wargaming.net is something of an expert when it comes to free-to-play game design. The studio's World of Tanks is one of the biggest F2P titles in the world, boasting over 60 million registered users and holding the world record for player concurrency. This population is likely to expand when World of Tanks launches on the Xbox 360 later this summer. There's just one hitch: According to Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi, Microsoft's current certification process is not very friendly to free-to-play games. Here's Kislyi speaking with Polygon about the struggles the studio faced in bringing World of Tanks to Xbox Live: One of the biggest challenges with Microsoft was the frequency of updates because the QA process and certification process takes an extremely long time. Totally unacceptable for a meaningful free-to-play. We are working with them to do quicker updates. Kislyi noted that Wargaming is trying to help Microsoft streamline the certification process, but that there is quite a bit of work on the tech and admin sides that needs to be done. As for whether any of this will result in meaningful changes for developers looking to launch on Microsoft's current or future console, Kislyi noted, "We will see." This isn't the first time Kislyi has talked about frustrations with Microsoft. A few weeks ago, he expressed his unhappiness with the fact that World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition players will need an Xbox Live Gold account to get online with the game.
Wargaming CEO wants to teach Microsoft a thing or two about payment models
Why is World of Tanks jumping to the console? Because if you can't bring a gamer to a game, you take the game to the gamer. That's the basic philosophy Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi shared in a recent interview with Games Industry International. He stated: We are an entertainment company and we have to cater to our players whatever they use. If you want to play World of Tanks on console, we have to make is possible for you. People have been playing with their console for seven years, so we shouldn't be trying to make them suddenly play on PC. We take the game to them. These people won't spend $1500 on a cool gaming PC for World of Tanks." Kislyi expressed unhappiness with the fact that players will have to purchase an XBox Live Gold Membership in order to play WoT on the 360; he'd rather add significant numbers of non-gold members who would monetize occasionally than force a pay wall on players. Kislyi also shared more thoughts on the integration of free-to-play and consoles in general, including the fact that Wargaming stands ready to advise Microsoft on how to embrace different payment models. You can read all the details in the full interview.
GDC 2013: World of Warplanes keeps flying toward the horizon
World of Warplanes is still in testing, but it's been playable at a few events now and has staked its claim as a distinct entity from World of Tanks. Wargaming.net's CEO Victor Kislyi and global operations director Vlad Beloserov were at GDC recently showing off more highlights from the game, which promises to deliver exactly the sort of high-energy dogfights you would hope for. As it stands now, the game has about 10 maps and 100 planes. Each of the planes can be fully customized, while each map is meant to play differently rather than just being different background scenery -- some maps are foggy, some have skyscrapers or mountains, some are set at different times of day, and so forth. Actual gameplay has continued to receive polish tweaks; the game retains both easy and expert control modes, with the latter playing more like a flight simulator and the former allowing you to simply point your mouse in the direction you want to fly. Enemy planes and your own can be riddled with holes that show the sky through your shredded wings, and the UI allows you to track your plane's optimal speed and altitude to maximize performance in combat. One extra tidbit revealed on the show floor was that players of both World of Tanks and World of Warplanes can reap extra benefits from both games, as experience earned in the former can be used to improve in the latter. While there's no set release date for the game at this time, the game continues to impress and will be flying into more open testing as soon as Wargaming.net's teams are happy with its performance in smaller test venues. %Gallery-130862% Massively sent its ace reporters to San Francisco to bring you back the biggest MMO news from this year's GDC, the largest pro-only gaming industry con in the world! Whether it's EVE Online or Star Wars: The Old Republic or that shiny new toy you've got your eye on, we're on the case, so stay tuned for all the highlights from the show!
World of Tanks Blitz mobile game to 'rival anything on a console'
Want to play World of Tanks on your tablet? You'll soon be able to do something similar thanks to World of Tanks Blitz, an Android and iOS title announced today by Wargaming.net. The game will feature 7-on-7 PvP matches "inspired by" World of Tanks, and it will allow players to lead American, Russian, and German tanks into battle. "With World of Tanks Blitz we're doing our best to give players a gaming experience that would rival anything they could find on a console," says Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi via press release. "We've always been committed to bringing World of Tanks to new platforms and we're excited to give players a chance to experience the game in a whole new way." The firm has yet to announce a release date.
Kislyi calls for 'second F2P revolution' in DICE speech
Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi took the stage at last week's DICE Summit to talk about the ongoing evolution of free-to-play. He's what you might call an expert on the subject given that the company he founded features 1.2 million peak concurrent users as well as 1,400 employees and 12 offices world-wide. Kislyi's 40-minute speech featured World of Tanks, but it also made mention of the firm's recent acquisition of Day 1 Studios. The move was made with an eye towards cornering the console F2P market, something Kislyi says that traditional console makers would be wise to do as well. "They keep their own prejudice and they keep to their old ways," he said. "If they keep holding to their old way, single-player box ideas they may pretty well drop." You can view Kislyi's DICE speech in its entirety after the cut.
Hit List Q&A: Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi
In the "Hit List" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the video game industry's top talents describe their current gaming addictions, their most anticipated releases and more. This week: Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi. Outspoken entrepreneur, passionate video game developer, and the Person of the Year 2012 according to GamesIndustry International, Victor Kislyi is the man behind the blockbuster World of Tanks, the Massive Assault Series, and the upcoming World of Warplanes and World of Warships action MMO games.In 1998, Victor established Wargaming, eventually leading the company from its strategy gaming roots to its current position as a leading global interactive entertainment conglomerate with over 1,300 employees and 11 offices in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Victor leads the team, setting design philosophy and strategy and boosting the company with his experience and enthusiasm. Under his expert care Wargaming is now working on four MMO games and building the Wargaming.net service - the epicenter of a battle-driven gaming universe that would unite all company's projects under a single multiplayer ecosystem.At his forthcoming 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit session, Victor will speak on "The Evolution of Free-To-Play: From Tanks To Beyond." Without growth there is only stagnation. While "free-to play" has taken the gaming industry by storm, it's becoming more and more apparent that an evolution of the business model is necessary in order to truly adapt to the needs of gamers and consumers. He will walk D.I.C.E. attendees through his vision of the free-to-play market as it stands today, as well as his thoughts and ideas on how it must grow in the future in order to remain viable.
World of Warplanes CEO sees market as the 'Wild West'
Wargaming.net's Victor Kislyi is never short on words when it comes to either talking about either his studio's games or the advantages of the free-to-play format. In an interview with GamesIndustry, he said that the global market is a "Wild West" and offers unlimited opportunities -- if companies can find their niche, that is. "The market for such games is endless, it's a blue ocean," he said. "The beauty and the curse is you have to be very, very good, because you can't fool people." Admitting that World of Tanks "looked like crap" when it first launched, Kislyi said that the company worked hard to bring it up to par with the games of today, not of 2008. Wargaming.net has come to a point that it's not as concerned about raking in money. Kislyi noted that Japanese and Russian players were the most willing to spend money, while Chinese players tended to be more tight-fisted with funds. In regard to World of Warplanes, he talked about challenges of balancing fun, quick action with an accurate flight model. In fact, getting the controls right is the reason Wargaming.net is holding off from stating a release date: "We have two or three parallel control scheme groups developing their own variants. You need to make the controls perfect. You have to find the right balance between making the game historically accurate, and at the same time, fun."
Wargaming.net funds expedition to recover WWII aircraft in Burma
Making World of Warplanes is not all Wargaming.net does to pay homage to the World War II-era aircraft. The studio has announced that it will fully fund an expedition to try and recover vintage British Spitfires in Burma. David Cundall, an aircraft enthusiast with experience in aviation archaeology, has already recovered a number of other WWII craft in the UK. Over the last 14 years, Cundall has researched rumors of Spitfires buried in the Southeast Asia. Now, thanks to the funds provided by Wargaming.net, he will be able to work together with the Burmese authorities to continue the project and hopefully recover the aircraft. Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming, emphasized the company's dedication to historic preservation, stating: "Since its founding, Wargaming has been dedicated to bringing military history alive, whether through video games or more recently through historic preservation and educational initiatives with museums. When we learned of David's long quest to track down the Spitfires, we reached out to support him, not only to recover the planes if they are there, but also to help tell the story of the air war in Burma –- which is of great interest to our community." Wargaming.net will also launch a blog chronicling the expedition's progress.
Wargaming acquires BigWorld for $45 million
In what Chief Executive Victor Kislyi explained as a means to remain in control of the studio's own destiny, Wargaming.net has acquired BigWorld, an Australian online-game software maker, for $45 million. The move was to bring one of the publisher's critical tools in-house; previously, BigWorld supplied Wargaming with with its technology platform. Kislyi states, "This [is] very crucial for us, as we want to control the technology provider we are using. Now we can integrate them to make internal development more efficient." Wargaming, which publishes the popular free-to-play World of Tanks along with the upcoming World of Warplanes and World of Warships (previously known as World of Battleships), has been using BigWorld nearly five years. The move will lower the production costs of the two new titles and adds new employees to the company. Kislyi assures that Wargaming will continue to support Bigworld's current customers and indicates that in the future, the studio may be in the position to offer technology of the combined companies to others wanting to develop an MMO.
Wargaming.net installing gaming center on USS Iowa
Wargaming.net's public relations machine is larger than life. Whether we're talking about the ginormous booth on display at this month's E3 or the full-size tank the company brought with it last year, the maker of World of Tanks, World of Warplanes, and World of Battleships is fond of both spectacle and military hardware. The firm's latest endeavor ties in with World of Battleships by taking gamers and history buffs on board the USS Iowa, a battleship commissioned in 1943 that took part in almost every major Pacific theater naval engagement during World War II. Wargaming.net is installing a gaming center below deck on the Iowa, as well as a "bridge experience" that will simulate an attack by Japanese forces and allow partcipants to defend the ship and fly Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter planes. "Not only is sponsoring a museum and a vet-run organization a good thing, it also naturally clicks and fits within our business mission," explains Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi. "That brings us fantastic brand awareness and spreads the word about our company and our products, so it's a very perfect fit. It is business and it is passion for history and historical accuracy. It's a mutually beneficial thing." Head past the cut for a video interview with Kislyi on the deck of the Iowa.
World of Tanks celebrates its first year
Bring on the armored confetti! World of Tanks is celebrating its first anniversary, and Wargaming.net is "tankful" for the over 24 million registered players worldwide. Has the growth caused some shell-shock? "Our growth over the last year has been nothing short of amazing. A year ago, no one in the company could possibly imagine that World of Tanks would have skyrocketed like this," said Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi. So what have all these users been up to over the last 12 months? They have participated in 350 million battles, fired more than 75 billion shells (scoring 48 billion direct hits), and destroyed more than eight billion armored vehicles. On top of that, World of Tanks secured the Guinness World Record for the Most Players Online Simultaneously on One MMO Server in January 2011 with 91,311 simultaneous players. The game has even broken that record multiple times, reaching a hefty 450,000 players online at one time. WoT has no intention of resting on its laurels; Kislyi assures us that "the game isn't slowing down anytime soon." In fact, he says, "We have massive expectations for the upcoming year, and we'll continue to drive game development that will keep our players engaged and excited." Join in the celebration: Watch the video after the cut and then check out our one-year retrospective in next week's The Firing Line. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
World of Tanks has 20 million registered users, making double-digit million profits monthly
Wargaming.net is going through quite a growth spurt, and the company's CEO says it's not just about registered user numbers boosted by freeloading players. "We probably have one of the highest payment ratios in the industry, it's around 25 to 30 percent," Victor Kislyi recently told GamesIndustry.biz. Kislyi also offered up some impressive concurrent user numbers for World of Tanks, including 423,000 simultaneous Russian tankers that he said outstrips the entirety of EVE Online's playerbase. As for the "pay-to-win" rhetoric often found in World of Tanks internet discussions, Kislyi says it is what it is. "For casual gameplay, which most players do most of the time, people don't usually use gold or expendables. Of course if you want to win a tournament, if you're competitive, if you play clan wars, if you want to be at the top, we think it's appropriate to expect a little bit of money from you because you already spent hundreds of hours in our game and that's much more than the value of any $50 box."
GDC 2012: Wargaming.net on World of Warplanes, clan wars, and taking over the world
Wargaming.net had a huge presence at this year's GDC, and why not? The firm is growing at an exponential rate, and we're not just talking about the fact that it has World of Warplanes and World of Battleships coming down the pike. CEO Victor Kislyi told me that over the past year the firm has expanded to include 700+ employees and a global presence that features development centers in Kiev, Ukraine, and Russia. The firm's flagship World of Tanks title currently boasts 18 million players worldwide, and it is paving the way for the second and third entries in a World War II trilogy. Its clan wars mode is also the starting point for a grand vision of military combat at the squad level.
World of Tanks iOS app rolls off the factory line
Wargaming.net is making it easier than ever to stay in touch with your friends and goals in World of Tanks, as the studio released its first mobile app that's integrated with the online game. Called World of Tanks Assistant, this free app can be found in the iTunes Store, although an Android version is coming soon. The World of Tanks Assistant is designed to give players access to in-game information while they're on the go. Players can access their profiles, read up on the latest news, check out combat stats and global ratings, and stay in touch with friends. Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi hopes that this will be a useful tool for WoT fans: "What I like about the Assistant most is its convenience. Even if you're away from your computer, there's always an app at hand that will give you everything you need to know at any given time."
World of Tanks tops its own Guinness World Record
If your hard-won Guinness World Record has to be beaten one day, it's best that you do it yourself. That seems like Wargaming.net's philosophy, as the studio just announced that it's already broken World of Tanks' previously established record for Most Players Online Simultaneously on One MMO Server. 250,000 players crammed onto the game's Russian server simultaneously in November, far outstripping the title's earlier achievement of 91,311. CEO Victor Kislyi said that its upcoming technology and software upgrades will enable World of Tanks to do even better: "We are more than happy to watch our World of Tanks win over hearts and minds of gamers all around the world. The multicluster technology will enable us to move steadily towards new milestones and records." We recently gave World of Tanks a close look in our Firing Line column. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
Wargaming.net heading to G-Star 2011
Wargaming.net's assault on the global MMO scene continues this month as the development firm heads to Korea for Asia's largest gaming-related tradeshow. The folks who brought you World of Tanks (and who will shortly be bringing you World of Warplanes, World of Battleships, and World of post-apocalyptic Volkswagen Beetles with chainguns mounted on their hoods) are traveling to G-Star 2011 to promote the recently released World of Tanks Korean language pack. The team has also launched a promotional Korean website, and Wargaming.net seems intent on creating a large presence in the Asian gaming market for its free-to-play action MMO brands. "We've created a truly high-quality AAA title with World of Tanks [which is] already wildly successful in Russia and in the West," said Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi via press release. "Now we are looking forward to promoting our product [in] the mature and competitive Korean market." [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
World of Battleships website leaves dry dock
Anchor up and full speed ahead, first mate -- the World of Battleships website is fully operational! Wargaming.net's latest entry into the "World of" series is taking the battle to the sea, handing the wheel of classic 20th century battleships to players and waving liability insurance. The website allows us to get a better look at the fleet vs. fleet title, with information, videos and screenshots ahoy. Wargaming.net's Victor Kislyi broke the champagne bottle over the website's bow: "We're excited to launch World of Battleships' website. We want to make it home for all those in love with naval battles and WWII-era warships." The title was announced a month ago, and is the third entry in Wargaming.net's increasingly popular vehicle-based PvP MMOs. %Gallery-130714%
Wargaming.net announces World of Battleships
First it was by land. Then it was by air. And now the third assault comes by sea. Today Wargaming.net announced that it will be rounding out its "World of" trilogy by adding a third MMO to its roster: World of Battleships. This free-to-play title will focus on the iconic battleships of the last century as players duke it out on the high seas. Like World of Tanks and World of Warplanes, World of Battleships will incorporate player-friendly controls and a clean interface to allow the maximum amount of carnage with the minimum amount of confusion. There will be a wide array of battleships available to play on maps with changing weather conditions and challenging obstacles. Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi sees this as the final step for world domination: "Humans always needed to conquer the elements -- earth, water and air. With World of Tanks, World of Warplanes and World of Battleships we will offer players to conquer all, simultaneously." The company plans to allow players to "distribute resources" between all three titles once they're all up and running. You can get a first look at World of Battleships in the gallery below! %Gallery-130714%
