World of Warplanes: Wargaming.net is Soaring High

MMORPG.com:

Tell us about World of Warplanes? Was it always a part of the World of Tanks plan?

Alexander Zezulin:

World of Warplanes is a free-to-play MMO-action game dedicated to air combat that will combine features of a flight simulator as well as traditional MMO elements. The planes represented in the game will span the period from 1930's to 1950's. When we worked on World of Tanks our team was focused on creating "tank" gameplay only having no warplanes in mind. The decision to start working on a new game came closer to World of Tanks release date.

MMORPG.com:

What types of air combat scenarios are you working on? What is the hardest part about air combat?

Alexander Zezulin:

The basic mode we are working on now will be the same as in World of Tanks - to win one of the teams will have to either eliminate its counterparts or destroy the enemy base that will represent a number of objects - like railway stations, anti-aircraft guns, hangars etc. - scattered around the map. As for the second part of the question, the hardest thing for us so far is to make air combat appealing and accessible to a wide audience of players - not only flight sim pros. If in World of Tanks the player can hide behind a rock, catch his breath and then continue moving in World of Warplanes he will constantly stay in motion in a 3D space having much less time for making decisions and keeping in mind a more dynamic and fast-changing environment. To make the process of playing in these conditions simple and convenient is our priority task.

MMORPG.com:

How will the games be structured? Will it be similar to World of Tanks?

Alexander Zezulin:

The structure used in World of Tanks proved to work really well so we'll definitely stick to it in World of Warplanes.

MMORPG.com:

How can players advance in the game? What type of reward system will you have?

Alexander Zezulin:

As in World of Tanks players will earn credits and experience in battles that will be spent on researching and buying new modules and then new vehicles.

MMORPG.com:

World of Tanks is very authentic, are you making an effort to stay true to history with the planes you are going to offer players?

Alexander Zezulin:

Absolutely. Our artists will do their best to make the models of planes as authentic as possible paying attention to even smallest details. As for the combat characteristics of vehicles we'll treat them with respect probably slightly changing and tweaking them in favor of gameplay needs.

MMORPG.com:

When can we expect to see some playable demos for World of Warplanes?

Alexander Zezulin:

We plan on launching the closed beta by the end of the year. However, some trusted and reliable World of Tanks players will be allowed into the game earlier as we'll invite them to take part in the alpha testing.

MMORPG.com:

What is your favorite part of working on this style of game?

Alexander Zezulin:

Learning a lot of new interesting things about the development of aircrafts in the 20th century is one of the most exciting aspects of my work. I used to be interested in the lives of famous pilots and WWII aces paying little attention to the planes they operated. Now I'm learning a lot about aircrafts engineering and technologies and a whole new world starts to open up.

MMORPG.com:

Is there anything you want to tell players that they may not know about World of Tanks or World of Warplanes?

Alexander Zezulin:

We are very grateful to our players for all the support World of Tanks got over the period of its development and we'll be glad to see all them flying in World of Warplanes.

MMORPG.com:

Everyone is very excited about this new title, can you share with us some idea on beta or launch?

Alexander Zezulin:

As World of Warplanes is still in its alpha phase it's a bit early to talk about firm dates, but we plan to have the closed beta launched by the end of this year.