Wargaming has transferred operations in those areas to another studio

Major war sim developer Wargaming has announced it's backing out of two major area??s.?? Wargaming says it will not own or operate any businesses in Russia or Belarus, and is leaving both countries.

In a statement posted on Wargaming's site, the studio says it's been conducting a "strategic review of business operations worldwide," and decided to leave both Russia and Belarus. As of March 31, the company has handed management of its live games for those regions over to local management in Lesta Studio—a studio no longer affiliated with Wargaming. During the transition period, the live games will remain available in those regions, operated by the??ir new owner.

The studio behind World of Tanks and World of Warships says it will not prof??it from this process. According to the statement, Wargaming expects to "suffer substantial losses" as a resul?t of this decision.

Wargaming will also be closing its studio in Minsk, ?Belarus. The developer says it will be providing "as much severance and support as p?ossible" to employees affected by the change.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y50zJpzP0I

Support for Ukraine

Though the statement doesn't specify a reason, Wargaming has supported humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and its employees affected by the invasion. The World of Tanks studio recently fired creative director Sergey Burkatovskiy over posts he made, supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The studio told PC Gamer that his personal opinions categorically did not reflect the position of the company. Additionall?y, Wargaming made a significant donation to the Ukrainian Red Cross.

Many game development publishers and studios have spoken up about the invasion, as it has affected international colleagues and friends alike. Developers have assembled charity bundles. And big names, like CD Projekt, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft, have halted sales in the region.

Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov had previously called on studios like Wargaming to close its offices in Russia. Leaving the region behind is huge for Wargaming, as games like World of Tanks have been incredibly popular in Russia. It's certainly a sta??tement for the s??tudio to leave it.

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Reach into your bag of tricks and pull another shell

We officially have a trend, folks. Following up on the heels of Marshmello and Korn both performing in-game concerts, The Offspring is jumping on the trend to perform in the popular free-to-play strategy game World of Tanks. The skate punk band led by a man with a Ph.D. in molecular biology just got done headlining a festival dedicated to World of Tanks i?n Minsk, so in an odd way, the crossove??r makes sense.

Not much information is out there right now. At some point starting tomorrow, September 18, the band will be performing on a stage in the game and players will be able to access it through the Garage. Knowing what I know about World of Tanks, I hope this ends with the band all riding their own tanks around a battlefield as war rages on. In reality though, the end result will ??probably be something much more disappointing.

The Offspring is one of those bands I love despite knowing it's not great music. It's just so reminiscent of my youth and throws me back to summer nights riding bikes with my friends through the streets of a rural New Jersey town. I can't say that this will push me to play the game, but it's an interesting new trend and I'll now be campaigning for the Mountain Goats to perform in Occupy White Walls until I take my dying breath.

The Offspring [Twitter]

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Roll on up

Fans of large cannons on treads and intractable gameplay will be pleased to know the PS4 version of World of Tanks has a firm release date. Would-be tank commanders can get down and dirty on January 19th and wade into a battleground of multi-ton tanks, massive shells, and sometimes baffl??ing mechanics.

Our own Brett Makedonski was fairly cool on the Xbox One version of the game citing a nigh-unbearable grind to the high-end tanks and often unfair seeming match-ups as a source of frustration. On the plus side though, it is a free-to-play game so you are free to try it out and see if it is your cup of mechanized tea before investing any duckets into it. I might give it a go if only because the last time I can remember piloting WWII era tanks was in Battlefield 1943 on the 360. Maybe I'll actually ??be able to get a shell or two off before ??driving the tank into the ocean or getting dive-bombed to hell this time. 

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What a tanker

In its continuing quest for world dominance, Wargaming.net is bringing the free-to-play World of Tanks ?to the PS4, with a beta launching "in the coming month??s".

"We’re all very excited to be bringing this massively multiplayer, action packed, 30-player tank battle sensation to PlayStation 4," writes project lead TJ Wagner on the PS Blog. "We’re tuning the experience specifically for P??layStation 4, supporting Dualshock 4 controllers, Share Play, PS Vita Remote Play, livestreaming and more. Best of all, World of Tanks is free-to-play for all PlayStation account holders from the get go!"

You'll have over 350 tanks of five different classes at your disposal, with the PS4 version offering custom maps and skins. PS Plus members will get added bonuses, such as "even more exclusive content and deals". There'll also be exclusive "Girls and Panzer content and themes at launch". Whatever that means. (Not sure I want ??to know, actually.)

For more information and/or to sign up for the beta, head to PS4.WorldofTanks.com.

In our review, we said that "anyone who truly appreciates World of Tanks won't need a review to guide them. They're already well beyond the long barrier to entry. Everyone else will likely find thems??elves similarly on the outside looking in.

"The gameplay can be rewarding? at times, but most won't have the patience (or the money) to ever get to that point. Thu??s, World of Tanks won't ever ??be more than a quick detour on the way to something that's easier to comprehend."

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Pick your poison

World of Tanks is a selfish game. It acts selfishly in that i?t hides information from its players, expecting them? to figure out any and all intricacies on their own. Similarly, it asks its userbase to roll into combat as a team, but only concern themselves with individual performance. Selfishness permeates the spirit of this game.

Though, I suppose we shouldn't expect any different from World of Tanks. Simple as the premise may be, real tank conflict would be undoubtedly difficult, and these types of titles tend to skew toward realistic?? to a degree. All's fair in love and war(gaming).

World of Tanks (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: Wargaming
Publisher: Wargaming
Release Date: July 28, 2015 (Xbox One)
MSRP: Free-to-play (with microtransactions)

Really, World of Tanks treads the line uneasily that a??ll massively multiplayer online titles do: How do you make a game like this rewarding and nuanced for experienced ?players, yet inviting and engaging enough for a new audience? Extrapolating from that (and more importantly): How do you convert both Group A and Group B into dollar signs? Wargaming doesn't always do a great job of it, as its intentions often seem paper-thin.

That aforesaid selfishness is where the moneymaking lies though, and it can come at the expense of the experience. World of Tanks on Xbox One gives people no reason to press forward except for personal gain. Being killed in a match means it's the end of that match as far as you're concerned. Sure, one could theoretically watch the rest of the round through the cameras of other players, but literally no one will do that. Instead, they'll?? head back to the garage, hop into another tank, and try again in a different match.

This was my exact experience for much of my time with World of Tanks. After several hours of playing (but possibly more spent in loading screens), I checked my stats to see that I had a victory rate of just about 50 percent. That's not bad at all, but I had no idea. Worse yet, I didn't really care. I only cared about the currency dripfeeding into my account at the conclusion of each match. That's all World of Tanks wants us to care about.

The last statement is made obvious by the way which Wargaming organically introduces players to some later-game content. During matches, it's not completely uncommon to come up against an opponent that seems literally invincible. Your ammunition will do next to nothing to it; it will dispose of you with the disdain of a Midweste?rner swatting one of a thousand mosquitoes on a humid July night. That is your goal -- you want to be that guy.

Make no mistake about it: World of Tanks is a continual left-to-right surge through a spiderweb of tanks you don't yet have, but might have very soon. Those first few come relatively quickly and the progression feels real. After that, everything gets slower. Each match contributes, but less so than before. Looking ahead through that web, some of it seems unattainable (or at the very least, extremely far off). World of Tanks wants your time or your wallet -- pick your?? poison.

Fortunately, giving it your time isn't the worst option. World of Tanks can be rewarding. Every hit landed on another player is satisfying. Blowing them up is exponentially better than just damaging them. Surviving the entire match, destroying several on the other team, and/or capturing a base might just make you feel like you're General Patton. You start to think "I'm getting better. If I keep playing like this, those e?nd-game tanks will be mine in no time!"

These are the immutable highs of World of Tanks. It's simply enthralling when you set off on a literal warpath and cut down everything in your way. This is the meat of the game, and it's a prime cut. Excelling at tank-play against other humans feels very, very good.

At this point, imminent defeat in the next match is all b?ut assured.

That's where World of Tanks is at its worst. Barring the progression frustrations, it's all too often that you'll feel like your opponents know something you don't. Their death machines are probably superior to yours, sure. Still, they'll angle their tanks in such a way that they never expose the weak part of the armor that you didn't even know was weak. They're really good, and you're not sure how to get to that level. The game doesn't teach you, and it?? doesn't seem lik??e you'll ever learn on your own. It's very unintuitive.

For everything that might appear impossible, what you do pick up on your own is invaluable. It isn't long before rushing in looks like a fool's game. Flank, hide, proceed with caution. These vehicles may be harbingers of destruction, but you can't treat them as such. Each minute movement actually means something when you're in the thick of it. These are the times when you'll feel a strategic sense in World of Tanks??. Suddenly, things aren't so bad again. Everything seems po?ssible, at least.

And, that's what World of Tanks thrives on -- a cyclical ??mindset between frustration, slight progression, and back to frustration. There are intermittent spurts of elation peppered in occasionally in the event of an outstanding performance. Otherwise, it's right back to not quite understanding why others know m??ore than you do. Which poison did they pick? Time or wallet? Or, heaven forbid, both?

Anyone who truly appreciates World of Tanks won't need a review to guide them. They're already well beyond the long barrier to entry. Everyone else will likely find themselves similarly on the outside looking in. There might be something special to World of Tanks, but it's not something that's immediately apparent; it's something that only shows itself after a significant investment. The gameplay can be rewarding at times, but most won't have the patience (or the money) to ever get to that point. Thus, World of Tanks? won't ever be more than a qui?ck detour on the way to something that's easier to comprehend.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the free game downloaded by the reviewer.]}

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Time to blow stuff up

The cannons are prepped, the hatches are down, and the big wheel roller things have begun to turn, World of Tanks is finally rolling out on Xbox One today.

For the uninitiated, World of Tanks is ??a game abou?t using tanks to shoot other tanks. There you go, nice simple premise.

If you previously played World of Tanks on Xbox 360, all of your pro??gress wi??ll carry over to the Xbox One version, which has sharper visuals and a new PvE mode called Proving Grounds.

While the game is free to download, u?pgrad??ing your tanks through gameplay alone will take a LOT of grinding. Yep, it's that kind of free-to-play game.

Stil?l, no harm in giving it a free download if you feel like bashing some tanks about.

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Boom goes the dynamite

Publisher and developer Wargaming has announced that their free-to-play title World of Tanks is rumbling onto the Xbox One in 2015. As long as you're a Gold member, the game will be free to download. So, let's use the term free pretty loosely here. We haven't been given a release date, but surely it won't b??????????????????????????e too far into the year.

Anyway, the big takeaway from this announcement i?s that players with?? the new Xbox One version will be able to play against scrubs still on the Xbox 360. That's right, it will be cross-platform, suckers -- as all games should be.

By the way, if you're upgrading from the 360 to the Xbox One, your existing World of Tanks accounts and in-game progress will transfer with you. Thank you World of Tanks, that's swell.

The post World of Tanks coming to Xbox One this year appeared first on Destructoid.

'This is so stupid!'

PAX Prime 2014 is winding down, but tha??t doesn't mean those of us at home can't pretend like we are there, stalking Max Scoville as he roams the show floor. I was going to give a detailed play-by-play of the video here, but I have decided that just pasting the notes I took while watching will suffice. Hope you like animals!

• Andy, Hamza, Jordan, and community member Muddbstrd as Mr. Destructoid
• Max Scoville looking for animals
• Guy on elevator gets creeped out
• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel oxygen bar
• "This is so stupid!"
• Blake
• Indie MEGABOOTH
• Somebody asks for Tara, but is so uninteresting that the video editor fast forwarded it
• Evolve monster crotch extreme closeup
• Max walks through a fart
• "Let's go look at Pikachu's asshole!"
• Paul who gets swag
• Woman who smiles knowingly about Max looking for a tank's asshole
• Laserzone

So there you have it! The experience of wa??lking the show floor with Max ??Scoville, and you didn't even have to personally walk through a fart.

The post You aren’t at PAX? Let Max Scoville give you the tour appeared first on Destructoid.

It'll drop in August

World of Tanks has gone from a relatively unknown game to a worldwide phenomeno??n over the past few years,?? so it's obvious that the demand for a console version led to the Xbox 360 Edition of the game this year.

Although the digital version of the game has been available since February, developer Wargaming is rolling out physical editions starting August 12th with extras. For $19.99 you can grab some exclusive items, including ??three days of premium game?-time, 200,000 silver, 1500 in-game gold, a new tank, and a 30-day Gold voucher.

It's cool that there are choices on consoles in terms of the free-to-play arena, but I still find it humorous that Microsoft hasn't lifted the paid Xbox Gold requirement for these free games.

The post World of Tanks physical edition dated on Xbox 360 appeared first on Destructoid.

Want more tanks?

Wargaming West has just announced that in addition to a free World of Tanks update titled "Soviet Steel" on June 3rd that will bring more tanks, the Xbox 360 Edition of t??he game will be getting a physical disc. It'll be released in August for $19.99, ?and will pack-in 1,500 gold, 200,000 silver, a 30 day Xbox Live Gold sub, and three days of premium silver and XP boost time.

All in all World of Tanks 360 will boast 150 total tanks by the time this update is implemented. If you have a Gold sub you may as well give ?it a try, although the progression is a bit slow for my tastes.

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Na'Vi takes top prize

The skinny arms of one of the team members of team Natus Vincere (also known as Na'Vi) were warbling dangerously as he attempted to lift the massive bloc??k of solid metal that is the trophy for the Wargaming.net League Grand Finals World Champions. His teammates rushed in to help him as spotlights shone down and a theater full of fans cheered and applauded in Warsaw, Poland this past Sunday. 

Natus Vincere took down 13 other teams ?over the three days of the event, which had players from six regions battling, and had fans and press from all over the world? watching on while they did so. They took home about $110,000 in prize money, with runner-up team Virtus.Pro taking almost $100,000 themselves.

World of Tanks matches are slower than your typical eSports match, but that doesn't mean that they're any less exciting. The 7-on-7 battles are tighter and more focused than the game's typical online bouts, which usually have teams of 15 fighting each other. Special maps have been developed for competitive play to keep the action hot, though that doesn't stop competitors from taking their time to work out the best possible positions and formations. As I learned, placement is everything in a World of Tanks eSports match.

After each team finds their formation and preferred positions, much of the remaining match time is spent camping. My casual play experience with World of Tanks has always had me heading right into battle as a sort of lone ranger in online? matches, fighting for the greater good of my team. But these pro players sit and wait, keeping their eyes peeled for any opportunity to gain an advantage. A few shots are fired in the first half,? but they're as rare as movement. A defensive hold of formation and some careful sniping seems to be the name of the game, and as you would guess, this kind of play leads to draw matches more often than not. 

But Wargaming was smart in how they structured prize payouts. In an effort to get away from camp-heavy matches, they reward those that get out there and get into the action, which is why you'll see the last two or three minutes of matches heating up very quickly. Players are usually left relatively damage free for the first two thirds of the round, but kills come quick at the end. The first match of the event had all the action saved for the last few minutes, where one of the teams suddenly decided to take a hill by force, moving in formation for some very quick takedowns. What was a mostly quiet crowd immediately jumped to their feet and began screaming and c??heering in those last few minutes.

While not necessarily intentional, the move between these phases of positioning and action make for a pretty entertaining viewing experience. Those that favor devising strategies will likely enjoy watching teams scramble to the best defensive or offensive points of maps. You'll see where they lock down choke points or make moves toward crucial map features, and then speculate on how they'll use them when the action heats up. And when it does, expect some pretty great face-offs. Even with the draws, watching pro World of Tanks players go at it is a pretty good time. 

The excitement level stayed high for the whole weekend. It started early on with admirable play from the American team -- all attendees seemed to be impressed with their performance. Of course, there was plenty of fan support for the local team. Even Poland's vice mayor was in attendance; he's also a World of Tanks player, and says that they have an office league that he plays in. But the favorites were always the Russian teams. They fought it out until Natus Vincere took top prize. You can watch their final match against Vitus in the vid?eo above.

This event took place in Warsaw, Poland this past weekend, in a venue tucked away on?? the top floor of a large shopping mall. I thought it was odd to be going to a mall, working my way up a zigzag of escalators, passing shoe stores to watch an eSports tournament, but the venue turned out to be great for the event. A massive theater with stadium style seats welcomed fans from all over Europe and beyond. The action was projected on the large theater screen while both teams played live directly below it. 

And for their first big show, the presentation of the Grand Finals was top notch. Professional sets, lighting, broadcasters, cameras, and announcers had the event feeling like it was just one more year of an event that had been going on for years. Crowds pack?ed the event's seating, eater??ies, and viewing areas all weekend, taking it all in. 

Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi is happy with how far they've come for the league, but he expects an even bigger show for next year, with many more teams competing for even more prize money. To meet his expectations, Wargaming has upped their eSports budget by 25 percent, taking their 2014 budget to $10 million. Aside from bigger pr??izes for more teams, these funds will also go towards ?sponsor programs and outreach this year.

Warsaw, Poland worked out to be an ideal host for the League Grand Finals. The city has played host to several other eSports events in the past years. Being in central Europe and having plenty of lodging and venues helps, but what really made this particular event a success was that Warsaw has one of the largest concentration of World of Tanks players in the world. 

The city itself is also quite nice to visit. It's packed with historical sights, museums, attractions, and fantastic food. Following the Grand Finals, I had the pleasure of snapping photos in Warsaw's Old Town, brushing up on WWII history at the Warsaw Uprising museum, and eating proba?bly too much sausages and pierogi dishes this past weekend. Wargaming isn'??t set on the next location for the 2014 Grand Finals yet, but from what Kislyi told us, it sounds like they're at least considering coming back to Warsaw.

You can exp??lore the results of the League Grand Finals on Wargaming's dedicated Grand Finals page. Beyond this, replays are ava??ilable on their twitch.tv channel.

The post Wargaming.net League Grand Finals recap ?from Warsaw, Poland appeared first on Destructoid.

Our chat with Victor Kislyi

I met with Wargaming boss Victor Kislyi last week in a dark, quiet, private meeting room on the GDC expo floor on an early morning following what was probably the biggest party of the week. The chief executive looked surprisingly chipper for having just come off their big shindig, where DJ Steve Aoki spun, cake flew, and drinks poured. Despite the long night, Kislyi seemed genuinely excited to brief us on what 2014 has in store for World of Tanks and Wargaming. 

World of Tanks Blitz

Mobile free-to-play MMO World of Tanks Blitz is looking great. Kislyi told us that they have a lot of work left to do, but they at least have the look down, as the demo I saw had iPad play looking a lot like its PC big brother. And yes, it is a full-scale MMO, and not just a stand-alone mobile game. It offers 7-versus-7 play in smaller maps, but it's otherwise a match on every other level to the PC v??ersion. Kislyi said that the average play time is about 7 minutes, allowing for players to jump into a quic??k match easily.

They're still in the testing phase, but they're at a point where this mobile version is a near visual match to what the PC version looked like a couple o?f years ago. It looks like a high-quality console game already.

Ki?slyi says that they have high hopes for ??this mobile game as part of their expansion. As of now there is no release date set.

World of Tanks Blitz has just enter??ed closed beta; over 150,000 signed up to get in on the action.

World of Tanks visual overhaul

World of Tanks will see big changes this year with updates that will change its look and feel completely -- a complete redesign. Kislyi talked up brand new graphics engine that will show the? tanks in a new light, with greatly increased detail and realism. Weapon fire will be volumetric. Along with this comes a new server-based physics engine that will allow for fully destructible environments. I saw a video example where a tank plowed through a fortification, mowing through it like it was made of hay, with individual bricks flying every direction. It was ??awesome.

Console World of Tanks will keep on keeping on 

Kislyi told us that World of Tanks: Xbox 360 edition is doing very well for them, despite being a niche, free-to-play PVP historical tank battle game. They launched about a month ago on Xbox 360. While they're not ready for an official statement, from their?? data things are looking up for this console expansion.

"For Xbox, we?? are very?? positive it will grow," Kislyi told Destructoid. "Money wise, it's already economically surplus, so it's good." 

He says that the free-to-play model is wor??king very well on Xbox 360. A small?? percentage are paying something, but the rest are playing for free, enjoying the game. 

As for an Xbox One ??version, while Kislyi says that there's nothing to announce now, he says he'd want to get their first foray on consoles just right before expanding. 

The first patch for World of Tanks: Xbox 360 will come sometime in April. 

Wargaming Grand Finals

The Wargaming.net League?? Grand Finals are set for April 4-6 in Warsaw, Poland. Fourteen teams will go at it for their piece of the $300,000 prize pool, with members from Russia, North America, Europe, and Asia. These teams were narrowed down from about 3,000 starting out.

"This is such an amazing new industr??y on its own," Kislyi said. 

We discussed how other games before World of Tanks proved that competitive gaming is a good business to be in.  Kislyi told us that he doesn't feel like there's any crossover between his and other popular online games, like League of Legends. But he all does fe??el like they're headed toward the same goal together. 

"It's happening now. It's a new thi??ng. History is being written as we speak," he continued. "We also can claim authorship? of just one chapter."

You'll be a?ble to watch the Grand Finals on Twitch.tv next week.

The post World of Tanks in 2014: M??obile MMO, new PC engine, console update?s coming appeared first on Destructoid.

New in 8.11 update

Confrontation is the name of the new mode added to World of Tanks in the 8.11?? update. This has players in vehicles from the same nation uniting to face teams from other nations. This new ??play mode comes in response to player requests, says Wargaming. 

This update will also add a new European winter battle arena called W??indstorm, as well as winter version of Himmelsdorf. Ruinberg gets more ruined with rain??fall and fires now, too. 

The post World of Tanks gets nation-to-nation combat mode appeared first on Destructoid.

Two Chinese tanks, too

Wargaming has announced the first details of their 8.8 update for free-to-play MMO World of Tanks today. New Soviet and German machines have been added  -- expect more medium and heavy tanks. The German line ha??s been rebalanced, t??oo. 

Two Chinese machines have also been added as well as a new battle are?a called the wintry Tundra.

You'll find a list of the new vehicles below, and you'll find images of some of t??he tanks and T??undra in our gallery.

S?oviet new tanks:&nb??sp;A-43 (Tier 6), A-44 (Tier 7), Object 416 (Tier 8), and Object 140 (the best). 

German new?? tanks: Tier 4 DW heavy chariot, Tier 6 VK3002 (M) medium tank

Chinese?????????????????????????? new tanks: Tier 8 T-34-3, 112 Tier 8 heavy tank

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...in an unlikely place

Belarus is located in ??Eastern Europe, nestled above both Poland and Ukraine, a chunk found right on the far western edge of Russia. Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is a city of about 2 million, set in a dense forest of beautiful evergreen trees that look like they've been there since the end of the last ice age. It's a city that contrasts greatly from those of North America or Western Europe with its stark Soviet-Bloc style buildings and its striking monuments.

The people of Minsk speak loudly (in Russian -- English is rarely spoken) and have strong, intense eyes, but they're generally kind people that smile back when addressed, and are helpful when asked. On weekends you'll find that they enjoy themselves by walking through the city's imm?ense parks, or having drinks? in outdoor cafes. Visiting now, despite the remaining architecture of Stalin's design, it seems a world away from the headquarters of Russian army's Western Front, or one of the largest Nazi ghettos of World War II.

Minsk is also the birthplace of Wargaming. In 1998, Victor Kislyi and friends came together to make PC games they would enjoy playing. A decade or so of work brought almost a dozen games to market , but none of them enjoyed critical and financial success until they dreamt up a massively multiplayer game about tanks. Now, World of Tanks has about 65 million players worldwide. Warga??ming celebrated their 15th anniversary in Minsk last week. 

Kislyi took the stage at a press conference at Minsk's space station-shaped Belarus National Library on Friday. There, he revealed to international press that W?argaming would open their 16th studio in Austin, Texas ??this year. The addition of British planes to upcoming sister MMO World of Warplanes was also announced at the event. Updates on upcoming games, including World of Warships and both mobile and Xbox 360 versions of World of Tanks, were also detailed. Finally, Kislyi discussed on the future of the company, touching on ?thei?r move toward "Free-to-Win" and their growing focus on eSports. 

And with business out of the way, Kislyi was so focused and ?excited about the evening's 15th ??anniversary party that he insisted that all attending the press conference chant along with him: "Let's Party!"

The 15th anniversary Wargaming.net party took place at Belarus' Stalin's Line, a historical war museum that is packed full with old Soviet tanks, jets, and other weaponry -- a perfect setting for the type of game they make. On a regular visit one would find lengths of bunkers, ammo depots, a??nd scattered machine gun shells in this recreation of the Soviet war fortification of the 1940s, but on this day the grounds were set with countless attractions, ranging from game demo stations to a children's bounce room to a massive live stage where acts like The Offspring played for all attendees. 

Wargaming bought out every shuttle in the city to bring locals, visitors, staff, press, and VIPs to this museum-turned-fairground. They spared no expense, creating several open bar locations for all attendees. A VIP-only tent featured premium drinks, ?tasty food, and attentive table service, wi??th a front-row seat for the concerts to boot. Between the numerous attractions, which ranged from tank battle showcases to machine gun firing ranges (blanks), attendees stopped in to booths that offered unlimited ice cream and popcorn. Of course, selections from Wargaming's game catalog were available for play, too. The night ended with a fire dance show, and eventually a fireworks display. 

??Thousands showed up from all over the world to celebrate Wargaming's ??15th anniversary, and all were impressed. In the decade I've been professionally covering the videogame industry, this is easily the biggest and craziest videogame birthday party I've ever been to.

The last three years in particular have been very kind to Wargaming and their World of Tanks. Here's hoping that the next 15 years will be just as kind. With console/mobile versions of World of Tanks, and upcoming games World of Warplanes and World of Warships on the way, the future looks bright. 

I hope t??hey invi??te me to the 20th anniversary party.

Be sure to check out our massive gallery below?? for scenes from the party, promotional events, and Minsk.

The post Wargaming celebrates 15 years with one hell?? of a party appeared first on Destructoid.

8.7 update brings new vehicles, updates, new map

MMO World of Tanks will see a British invasion with the latest update. The upcoming ver. 8.7 update will bring Bri?tish self-propelled guns to the battle, with everything from iconic war vehicles to a couple of prototypes that never saw combat. A vehicle with the name Conquueror Gun Carriage (pictured above) sounds like it could do serious damage.

This update also brings a revamp to Soviet tanks as ??????????????????????????well as a new Russian winter map called Belogorsk.

Wargaming has sent along?? a batch of brand new screenshots for this update. ??You'll find them in our massive gallery below.

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Free-to-play the way it should be

In a recent question-and-answer session with Gamasutra, World of Tanks developer Wargaming.net shared that it has decided to drop all "pay-to-win" microtransactions, a common issue facing the free market, from its current games and all games going forward. "Pay-to-win" has become a term for any purchasable ?item that gives players an unfair advantage over anyone who hasn't put real money into the title.

Rather than putting a focus on selling enhanced items, the new revenue will come in part from cosmetic items, a strategy that has worked well for Team Fortress 2 and its many hats. While it might seem like they will earn less money this way, Wargaming is hoping that by providing a better gaming experience they will have more players,?? and gain more profit in the long run.

I've stayed away from World of Tanks because of all the talk about the "pay-to-win" economy, but now that they are changing things up I'll be checking it out for sure. If you want to see what the changes are like, you can grab all of their games from Wargaming.net.

Wargaming kicks 'pay-to-win'? monetization to the curb [Gamasutra]

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Adds new German & USSR tanks

Wargaming has gone ahead and pushed out a new update for its free-to-play MMO, World of Tanks. Update 8.5 adds new se??veral new medium German tanks and three new light Soviet tanks; it also includes a new map, Pearl River, while at the same time providing face-lifts for several existing maps including Siegfried Line, South Coast, and Malinovka. 

Arguably one of the most intriguing aspects of Update 8.5, however, is the abili??ty for non-paying users to purchase all available premium consumables through the spending of credits, as opposed to just gold.

With Europe having received this update yeste??rday, and the? U.S. getting it today, only South Korea has yet to get receive 8.5 -- they will do so come May 7.

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What could it be?

Wargaming has announced that it will be unveiling a new title at GDC 2013, which is set to begin in just over a week.

Along with the new title, Wargaming will also be showing off World of Warplanes, which received a large update back in February that included a spruced up control system along with enhanced graphics. World of Tanks' Update 8.4 is to also be present at Wargaming's booth, alongside its browser-based spin-off World of Tanks Generals.

Following Wargaming's acquisition of Gas Powered Games, the company said that it would use the acquisition as a means to expand its business by looking at ways to go multiplatform -- I'm guessing that this 'new ti?tle' is exactly that: a multiplatform game.

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$2.5 million prize pool

Wargaming has announced their new eSports professional gaming league for MMO World of Tanks. The launch takes place this quarter, and has a structure not unlike other com??petitive gaming events, meaning you can expect tourneys, playoffs and a Grand Finals event. T?he prize pool for 2013? Try $2.5 million. 

Damn, I need ?to look into eSports as a career. 

Wargaming plans to roll into the competitive gaming space with this move. This lets them get their game in front of pro players to expand their player base. They hope that this league will help bridge the gap between World of Tanks' communities, which are n??ow divided by large bodies of water. 

World of Tanks had its eSports debut at WCG 2012 ??Grand Fina??ls in Kunshan, China last year.

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That's... a lot of people. Last week, I mentioned how World of Tanks seemed to be one of those titles that's probably a lot bigger than I assumed but today publisher Wargaming announced that World of Tanks has 40 million registered users.

Now registered users is a fairly loaded phrase; there's a hell of a lot of people who will register for a game or service and only play it once. But there's also the ??small fact that 500,000 people recently played simultaneously on a single server.

I think it's safe to say "Yeah... World of Tanks is pretty big."

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World of Tanks is getting its biggest update to date, heralded by developer Wargaming as the bigg??est since the game launched. The vehicle-based MMO has become a heavy hitter in a crowded market and certainly their large booth at PAX was packed any time&nb?sp;I walked past.

Version 8.0 is bringing in the promised ??overhaul? of the lighting and physics in the game, as well as interface changes, enhanced Tank AI, improved rendering, and new mini-map features. There's also new camouflage patterns as well as new tanks for both the British and Russian forces.

World of Tanks is a game I'm keen to try out especially with its ties to World of Planes; a cross title, non-RPG MMO sounds different enough f?rom almost anything else out there.

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Update 8.0 for the free-to-play World of Tanks will be adding realistic physics to the experience. This means tanks will catch air when jumping over hills, and tanks can even push each other around now. In fact, you can push tanks off of cliffs, wh??ich I'm going to go ahead and say that's like the equivale??nt of tea-bagging someone in a first-person shooter.

The update will also introduce a ton of other updates that improves the overall gameplay, plus a handful of new playable tanks. Are any of you into World of Tanks??? I've been thinking about getting into the game, and would be down to roll with some you.

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Wargaming has been working with Australian middleware company BigWorld for some time now. Their top title, World of Tanks, uses BigWorld software, and the backend of World of Warplanes and World of Warships will also benefit from their MMO tech. Wargaming likes BigWorld so much that they will soo?n acquire the company for $45 million. 

Wargaming has grown at an insane rate in the free-to-play space, and it seems that roping in one ??of their key suppliers is part of their plan for continued expansion. 

Wargaming plans to launch World of Warplanes later this year, with world World of Warships following in 2013.

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Wargaming -- the folks behind World of Tanks, the upcoming World of Warplanes, and the even more upcoming World of Battleships -- is growing at an insane rate. They've been a big company over in Eurasia for a while, but now they're finally starting to conquer the Americas. ??After my meeting with Wargaming at E3, it was clear that they've got nowhere to go but up.

Perhaps the most important part of their future is what I've been calling the Wargaming Umbrella. Their goal is to unify all three of their games so that they all use the same currency and make it easier to switch in between their games. Wargaming is attempting to make their games more accessible to eve?ryone so they can include as many pe?ople as possible in their brand of free-to-play gaming.

Wargaming is kicking things off with their new update to World of Tanks: update 7.4. This update is finally adding British tanks into the mix, something of relative importance considering it was those slimy Brits that introduced the world to the first tank during World War I. World of Tanks will also receive new maps and modes w??ith the new update. One mode has a team defending a base from the oncoming attacking team, a nice change of pace from the deathmatc??h-style mode they use now.

World of Warplanes is currently only in its closed beta stages, but I got to see the game being played at E3. Warplanes focuses largely on air-to-air dogfights, but the underlying mechanics looked and sounded great. For example, the bigger planes may have droppable bombs equipped that can do some serious damage to structures on the ground, and once the bombs are released, the plane will actually become more nimble. If your plane gets shot and bullets pierce the wings, your plane's lift will be affected. Small details like that are sure to get plane-flying af?icionados really excited. In fact, just the manner in which they talked about their games made it clear that authenticity was a pr??iority.

Unfortunately, World of Battleships wasn't far enough along for me to see during my time with Wargaming. They mentioned that Battleships will be the slowest paced of the three games, simp?ly because of the nature of the sea. It's also the one that I'm most looking forward to, since the slow-paced gameplay should also lend itself to a mor??e tactical battlefield.

I think that what Wargaming is trying to do with their franchise is phenomenal. Linking the games together is a necessity if they want players to try out and experiment with each one. If cur??rency was only tied to one game, players may not want to invest the time in a new game just to start back at zero.

Wargaming is hoping to link these games together as soon as possible, though no date (or rough estimate) wa?s given.

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On the show floor at gamescom I caught up with Wargaming.net, the powerhouse from the East thatis behind the free-to-play MMO World of Tanks.

Not only did they take time to ply me with vodka and assure me that their dancing girls were the finest from the German adult entertainment industry, but we also talked about games. We find out about their latest updates to World of Tanks and talk about their two newest games, which were delightfully easy to name; World of Warplanes and World of Battleships.

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Tanks can be fun, but I'd rather stick to the skies when given a choice between the two. Wargaming.net has shared new details on its latest massively multiplayer online game, World of Warplanes.

In a decidedly smart move, you'll be allowed to hook up your same email account with World of Tanks and World of Warplanes. The two games interact, meaning gold and e??xperience earned in one title can be spent in the other, if you ??so desire.

"We've got thousands of players on World of Tanks servers, who have gained a scarily large amount of free experience which they don't know how to spend," says Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi. "With this sharing option we say to them -- 'hey, here's our new game, and it's as brutal and addictive as World of Tanks.'"

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While attending the World of Tanks booth to interview SteelSeries, I was approached by the World of Tanks team to interview them as well; I had free time and ?they had tanks. Done. We tried to do the interview in their booth but we were unable to hear ourse??lves think, let alone record due to a horrific amount of rubbish music from the next booth over. So we did the only other thing we could do: we went outside and climbed a tank. 

World Of Tanks is an in-depth online and free-to-play MMO which has already seen over a million downloads and joins the ranks of those games using micro-transactions to make their money. Arthur Partapopau takes some time out of his busy schedule to climb a tank with me as well as tell me about the game, the community, future DLC, and why you should play World of Tanks. 

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