ZAM: World of Warplanes Interview

ZAM: So, why warplanes? World of Tanks is already quite popular so a new game is understandable; what made planes the next step? Will we see World of Battleships next?

Alexander Zezulin: We've managed to gather a really strong team of tank enthusiasts who helped develop a brilliant tank-oriented free-to-play MMO. We've hit the mark with the setting, which was very unorthodox, compared to multiple WoW and LoL clones. We've managed to find great balance between simple controls and sophisticated gameplay, and players liked that combination. We discovered that most of our tank-loving players are also keen on warplanes, so deciding on the next game to develop was easy. All the key game design elements that led to World of Tanks' success will be brought to World of Warplanes.

Also, you're right about World of Battleships! We've already announced the project, and it will be built on the same concept as Tanks and Warplanes. We'll cover all the settings that held and witnessed epic tussles for supremacy. The only thing we lack so far is World of Infantry, but the ground is already taken by tanks, so no plans for this yet.

ZAM: How did the production team form for Warplanes? Did a lot of the people involved in the other Wargaming.net games work on this newest offering as well?

Alexander: To work on World of Warplanes, we teamed up with one of the leaders in the Ukrainian gaming industry, Persha Studia, with whom we had worked on World of Tanks content. Our collaboration was a success and when the next big project came along we couldn't think of a better partner to work with. As for the Minsk-based WoWP developers, they are headed by a colleague of mine and a real pro at game design, Anton Sitnikov, the World of Warplanes Producer.

As the work on WoWP continued and the game approached the Closed Alpha phase, we involved more and more people in the development, both at our office in Minsk and all around the globe. For the game engine, for example, we selected BigWorld, who proved themselves with World of Tanks. The BigWorld team in Australia has been busy continuously improving World of Warplanes.

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