World War II Online is gearing up for its next twenty years as the developers celebrate its 20th anniversary. In doing so, the team talked about what is upcoming for WWII Online players, including potential technology changes coming to the MMO.
The team starts off with congratulating players for helping to make WWII Online possible these last twenty years. The team behind the MMO isn't planning on slowing down, and detailed many of the changes coming to the MMO, including a potential Steam release, changes to the subscription model and an Unreal Engine 4 upgrade.
"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of WWII Online. I'd like to congratulate you all on making it to our 20th Anniversary of WWII Online, which is an extraordinary accomplishment that you should all be proud of. With that being said, we need to be looking at the future. For sometime, CRS and the Community has desired innovation into the future, so as to create the next 20 years. 87% of you said we need to do something bold - and innovative to stay relevant. Today, we have a series of extraordinary announcements to share with you that help bring us in that direction."
First off, the team is looking to add integrated voice comms into the MMO, ending their reliance on third-party communication programs. Whether players will take to this over Discord, though, will likely remain to be seen, but the developers are working to ensure it will "dramatically improve player retention and overall quality of game play."
One major change comes in the form of retooling how subscriptions work with World War II Online. Instead of multiple plans, WWII Online's developers have effectively consolidated many of the tiers, making a flat $9.99 sub fee. Free to play players shouldn't see any real change in what they have access to. For those who do sub, the team also is offering a discounted annual rate. However, if you're one of the players who sports an $18 subscription, the team is asking that you maintain that sub, stating that they need it to "continue supporting the game."
"One important note we made was that we're taking a big risk here. We really need players to maintain their current subscription rate to continue supporting the game. Our primary objective of doing this is to bring more players into WWII Online, and remove any reason for why they may not want to get in. We also make the game more accessible to many more people. If there's a big shift in players abandoning their plans, we will have to abort this initiative and go back to our premium rate. Thanks for holding the line."
In addition to those changes, World War II Online is headed to Steam, and down the road they might be getting an Unreal Engine 4 upgrade, even potentially Unreal Engine 5. However, for those expecting that anytime soon, the team stresses these are years in the making.
In addition to the post ont he WWII Online website, the team posted a series of videos thanking fans for their support and explaining what's to come, including a rebranded mod made by the team at Talos Interactive, WWII Online: Chokepoint.
