world-of-tanks
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World of Tanks 8.7 update rolls into Europe today
Two weeks ago we brought you news of World of Tank's upcoming 8.7 update. Today, European players logging in will get to experience the new branch of British self-propelled guns, the new winter map of Severogorsk, and other visual revamps and post-World War II prototypes. North American players will gain access on July 29th and Korean players will have access on August 1st. Want to scope out the Birch Gun, Bishop, FV3805, Loyd Gun Carriage, Sexton II, and more? Check out the various new machines and the new zone in the gallery below. Then catch the update trailer after the break. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]%Gallery-194567%
World of Tanks developer working with Microsoft to streamline 'unacceptable' certification process
The CEO of World of Tanks-developer Wargaming, Victor Kislyi, said that his team is working with Microsoft to streamline an "unacceptable" certification and quality assurance process in its effort to launch the popular free-to-play game on the Xbox 360 later this year. Speaking with Polygon at PAX Australia, Kislyi said that the "frequent updates" required to tweak online games posed a challenge for Microsoft's current certification process, which takes "an extremely long time." "Totally unacceptable for meaningful free-to-play," he said, promising his team was working with Microsoft to ensure "quicker updates." "We will see, there is a lot of work on the technically side and on the administrative side which should resolve in the acceptable quality of the product, including updates of the product including speed and rates," Kislyi said, unable to confirm whether Microsoft will offer a similar streamlined certification process to other developers. When asked about other challenges his team may face bringing the previously PC-exclusive free-to-play game to consoles, Kislyi admitted making any predictions about the unreleased version was "not very wise." World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition is currently undergoing a beta test, with sign-ups available on the game's official website.%Gallery-191128%
More Atari IP auction winners announced, Stardock plans Star Control reboot
A few more pieces from Atari's intellectual property catalog, which has been on clearance sale for a little while now, have new owners. Of note is the Total Annihilation and Master of Orion franchises being picked up by World of Tanks developer Wargaming World Limited, while the Star Control series is now in the hands of Galactic Civilizations developer Stardock. "We're very excited to publish a new Star Control game. We are inclined to go with an XCOM-like reboot using Star Control 2 as a major source of inspiration," said Brad Wardell, president and CEO of Stardock to Joystiq. "By rebooting the series á la XCOM, we can bring a new generation of gamers into a fun, silly space adventure. We hope to involve as many of the original designers and developers of the series, along with the fan base. It's important to us that Star Control remain true to its origins as much as is possible." Wargaming has yet to respond to our request about its plans. We've placed the list of the latest Atari IP winners after the break. The winning bids were not disclosed.
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.
World of Tanks update introduces post-war prototypes
Will World of Tanks ever run out of new hardware and locations to add? It doesn't seem likely at the pace that Wargaming.net keeps introducing them to the game. The Russian studio is preparing yet another update that will contain a new map, new vehicles, and even a few post-war prototypes. Update 8.7 is bringing out the artillery -- the British artillery, to be exact. Several new self-propelled guns will be shipped from England with love, including the Sexton, Bishop, and Crusader. The team also put in a few SPGs that never made it to actual production following the war, such as the top-tier Conqueror gun carriage. Players will have a new map to explore and ravage: Russia's Belogorsk-19. Just rolls off the tongue, does it not? [Source: Wargaming.net]
World of Tanks celebrates July 4th via a big tank tournament
Tomorrow is the fourth of July, and if you're not aware, in the United States that date is kind of a big deal. So the staff behind World of Tanks decided that the best way to celebrate America's independence day is by having a bunch of armored vehicles take potshots at one another for big prizes. A tournament is running through the weekend for Tier III through Tier X tanks, with a big package of microtransaction cash going to the winning teams. All teams will be paired up into groups, fight other teams in the same group, and be scored according to victory or loss. Battles will be limited to 10 minutes maximum. The big winners will be the teams with the highest score after the dust settles. If this sounds like it's your sort of celebration, there's still time to gather your team and register; if you'd rather just play the game, there are also plenty of promotions running over the holiday weekend just the same. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
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.
World of Tanks staggers release of artillery-laden Update 8.6
Artillery fans in Europe waiting for World of Tank's update 8.6 can start enjoying the all the goodies that this patch brings today, from the new artillery units to the new Korean-based Sacred Valley battle arena. Other areas of the globe, however, will have a longer wait before they can participate in the patch; it will go live in Southeast Asia on June 20th, followed by the American release on June 25th, and then finally hit South Korea on July 4th. Also included in this update are new SPGs that boost that line to Tier X and the A33 Excelsior, a new premium British tank. Take a look at the vehicles in the renderings, screenshots, and artwork in the gallery below. And in case you missed the teaser trailer for this update, we've tucked it behind the break for you!%Gallery-191798% [Source: Wargaming press release]
E3 2013: World of Tanks is blasting its way to the 360
Good news, tank fans! World of Tanks is heading to the Xbox 360 soon. Wargaming.net's partnership with Microsoft has been a huge milestone for both companies, as there hasn't been a large library of F2P games to grace the console's life. Although it's particularly late in the game's life to see World of Tanks hit the console market, transition to a controller-based system has actually been a good thing for the game. At this year's E3, Massively talked with Wargaming's Jeremy Monroe a bit about the company's growth, World of Tanks on the 360, and future plans for game releases.
World of Tanks Xbox 360 Edition open beta in 'relatively near future'
World of Tanks Xbox 360 Edition will enter open beta in the "relatively near future," Wargaming General Manager Denny Thorley said during a demo at E3. The beta will begin in North America and Canada, and roll out to other countries later on. Beta registration is open now at the game's website. The beta will likely include four maps and a majority of the full game's 60 total tanks at first, Thorley said. World of Tanks Xbox 360 Edition won't feature cross-play between PC and console. It supports online multiplayer for up to 30 players – 15 vs. 15 – with no single-player or local multiplayer content at launch. Wargaming may add single-player tutorials or other comparable content in the future. It's free-to-play for Xbox Live Gold members, and all other Live users will get a free seven-day trial. The monetization strategy on XBLA will be slightly different than its PC predecessor, though Thorley said he couldn't go into detail about specific packages. "I think you're going to find some similarities," Thorley said. "There are areas that may be slightly different." The major differences between the PC and Xbox 360 versions of World of Tanks will be the control scheme – surprise, the console edition uses a controller – and some user interface tweaks to better suit a couch perspective.%Gallery-191128%
E3 2013: World of Tanks hits Xbox 360 this summer
E3 has only just begun, but we've already received some pretty big news on the MMO front: Wargaming.net has announced that its absurdly popular free-to-play bash 'em up, World of Tanks, will be launching on the Xbox 360 this summer. The Xbox 360 version of the game has been "tuned specifically" for the console and will feature 15-on-15 matches. World of Tanks Xbox 360 Edition will remain free-to-play, as long as you're an Xbox Gold subscriber. The E3 trailer is behind the cut.
Wargaming.net celebrates 60 million registered tank drivers
There's no doubt about it: People love tanks. Wargaming.net today announced that its flagship title, World of Tanks, now boasts over 60 million registered players. The company also confirmed that World of Tanks, which holds a Guinness world record for single-server player concurrency, will be on display at E3 next week at the Wargaming.net booth. To commemorate the achievement (and stoke the E3 flames, no doubt), Wargaming.net has released a brand-new cinematic trailer for World of Tanks, similar in style to the one for World of Warships that breached earlier this week. Hit the break to check it out. And if you want to see one of Wargaming.net's games in action, don't forget to tune in to tonight's World of Warplanes stream at 6 p.m. EDT on Massively TV. [Source: Wargaming.net Press Release]
Wargaming.net removing 'pay-to-win' options from current and upcoming games
Spend any time in a comment section or forum thread pertaining to World of Tanks and you'll inevitably find accusations of pay-to-win monetization. Wargaming.net has apparently heard the discontented rumblings, as it just announced via an interview with Gamasutra that it is "removing all pay-to-win purchase options from all its current and upcoming titles." The initiative has its own marketing slogan ("free-to-win") and will ostensibly do away with "all payable options that could be viewed as giving a player an advantage in battle." How will the firm make its money, then? "Revenue will come from sales on non-advantageous content such as premium vehicles, personalization options, and the like," Gamasutra reports. Click through the links below for the full interview with Wargaming VP of Publishing Andrei Yarantsau.
Why MMOs stopped getting bigger
If after looking over the state of MMOs lately you've been left singing, "Where have all the big games gone?" to yourself, Ramin Shokrizade has an answer just for you. A virtual world economist, Shokrizade states that up until EVE Online and World of Warcraft, games grew in size and scope and then stopped. Why? Because it was never about getting big; it was about protecting and ensuring the equity of the gamers. Shokrizade delves into why equity -- the sum of gamers' in-game efforts, such as levels and possessions -- is so important in a game and why those games that ignore protecting this equity don't measure up when it comes to success. He discusses how microtransactions that deal in in-game content destroy equity as well as how expansions that make previous content (such as crafting tiers) obsolete do the same thing. He then goes on to discuss the games that get it right, like League of Legends and World of Tanks.
Patch 8.6 brings more balance to World of Tanks, ups SPGs to tier X
It's time for another update for the WWII-era World of Tanks. Today, Wargaming announced details for 8.6, an update that Producer Mike Zhivets said is "a major step in game balance enhancement and is really going to make SPGs players happy." He continued, "Artillery gameplay is going to feel a lot more balanced with a normal ten tier structure, making advancing through that class of armor more comfortable for players." Update 8.6 will push the SPG armor line to tier X by promoting current tier 8's up to the top and then adding new SPGs to the middle tiers. The American, Soviet, French, and German tech lines will all receive new artillery units and the British line gets a new premium tank, the A33 Excelsior. A new Korean-based map will also be introduced. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
Wargaming celebrates 15 years with new World of Tanks tournament
You may be familiar with Wargaming through the development studio's wildly successful game World of Tanks, but did you know that the company has been around for 15 years and has developed almost a dozen other games? To help celebrate this special 15th anniversary, Wargaming has announced a global World of Tanks tournament that will see winning teams from Europe, North America, Russia, South Korea, Southeast Asia, China, Vietnam, and more represent their regions with an all-expense-paid trip to the World of Tanks studio in Minsk, Belarus. The tournament will be a traditional 7 v 7 format and will run from May until the end of June. Check out the Wargaming site for more info.
Project Tank tanked by World of Tanks
A while ago, Project Tank popped up on our radar for two reasons. First of all, it was a browser-based multiplayer tank-based combat simulator. Second, it bore a lot of similarities to the existing multiplayer tank-based combat simulator World of Tanks, enough that Wargaming.net brought out the copyright lawyers. A copyright infringement suit was filed today by Wargaming.net, claiming that Project Tank directly copies many elements of World of Tanks and violates some existing patents. Gamebox has responded to these claims on the official site for the game, claiming that Wargaming.net has engaged in "underhanded" actions to try to shut down the project. This marks the end of the closed beta for Project Tank, which is promising open beta in approximately a month. You can take a look at the side-by-side comparison from before and draw your own conclusions about whether Project Tank is being unfairly accused or entirely fairly accused.
Rise and Shiny: Heroes and Generals
Heroes and Generals is a new browser-based game set in the wonderfully bright and shiny world of... World War II. OK, so it's really a gritty game, and it's sluggish at best, but I have a feeling that combat during that amazing time was from the "two steps forward, one step back" school of warfare anyway. I tried to keep that in mind as I slogged through round after round of being shot in the head. It's not that the game is boring. It's fun-ish, but when I compare it to many other MMOFPS titles, I find it small and slow. It's an instanced-based lobby sort of design. That's not normally a bad thing, and we certainly cover that style of game here on Massively, but this one just sort of felt a bit too small. There's more coming, I hear, so maybe in the future, the game will feel larger.
World of Tanks partners with PC Gamer for new bookazine
Wargaming and Future have announced a partnership today that will see a new 148-page "bookazine" for World of Tanks fans entitled PC Gamer Presents World of Tanks. This special publication provides "beginner tips and tricks, a history of Wargaming, exclusive developer interviews, map strategies and an analysis of the game's top tanks." The print version will go on sale in the UK for £9.99 and in US Walmart stores for $11.99. A digital version is also available through the PC Gamer smartphone app for £6.99. Wargaming's UK PR manager says that this is the first in a series of partnered bookazines published by PC Gamer. Because nothing says objectivity quite like a series of sponsorships, right? [Via Wargaming press release]
Wargaming.net offers special packages for National Veteran Appreciation Month
It's nearly May, and that means that World of Tanks developer Wargaming.net is keeping up a tradition that's run since the game first became playable. May is National Veteran Appreciation Month, and every year the studio offers package deals to players offering a variety of in-game benefits at a discounted price while donating some of the proceeds to veteran support groups. This year features two bundles. The first offers 2,000 gold and 2 million credits for $23.39; the second offers 10,000 gold, 1.2 million credits, 90 days of premium account status, and a special T-34 tank and garage slot for $115.99. 10% of each sale will be donated to Homes For Our Troops, AMVETS, and the Military Families Fund. So if you want to trundle along in a semi-historical military playground while supporting the brave individuals that made that possible, you can pick yourself up some nice toys in the process. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
