Interview with the boss himself.
Q: We know that the amount of tanks and nations possible to add are finite, and that new content is the basis of many of the WoT updates. What direction will the game take after the possibilities end?
A: Our historians are already preparing Polish, Hungarian, and Italian trees. Even with sparse releases, there’s enough material for a few years. Besides, I don’t agree that the game just boils down to adding new vehicles. We’re adding new modes like Grand Battle, which I personally wanted to see in the game.
Q: Do you plan to add modern vehicles to the game?
A: That questions is asked a lot – will the game get mechs, helis, or modern tanks… We have 4500 employees in our company, so ideas appear all the time. We often put those ideas to test, or prototype them, but we only release info when we’re sure it will work. For example, Grand Battle, where some functionality wasn’t implemented. Such are the laws of marketing.
Q: Consoles got a single player campaign. Do you plan to develop that idea further?
A: We’ll see. WoT was always a PvP game, but we’re conscious of the fact not all people like it. We can’t forget that PvE has left a mark in the whole genre. If the console players like it, we’ll think about PC players.
Q: The first trial season of Ranked Battles just ended. The players didn’t skimp on the criticism. Is it valid?
A: Ranked Battles, or as some say “a battle mode with skill based matchmaking” is a broad topic – we discussed it multiple times in our company. This was the first test, and statistics say that over 90% of the active players tried it out. Sure, we got a lot of feedback about errors, but it’s normal with such a scale. We listened to all info and implemented the most needed fixes in the second season, which will be much better. If needed, a third, and maybe fourth beta will be launched, until everything works.
Regarding the criticism, people just state their opinions, which means they’re interested. The lack of feedback would be worrying. A lot of it is positive, but some whining is also present. I always send such messages to the appropriate department, so they know what people want.
Q: Do you play a lot?
A: I play ‘tanks’ and ‘ships’. I also play a lot of Blitz with my son. I play Total War: Arena since the closed beta, it’s really addicting. Generally speaking, I like games since I saw my dad’s computer at the end of the 80s.
Q: There was an information that W40K tanks will appear in Blitz?
A: Yes, it’s true, a few tanks. Of course it won’t change the game dramatically. There’s a sort of unspoken rule that we’ll add new, even funkier machines from time to time.
Q: Lately Sega and Creative Assembly became your partners. How did the cooperation regarding TW:A begin?
A: When we were readying a project regarding Operation Bagration and showing it on various exhibitions, we started talking with Creative Assembly and then Sega, as to why not make something together in WWII times. The topic got pushed aside, but the contacts stayed. In time we resumed the talks, and so, Total War: Arena was born.
Q: In December you announced a new MMO named Caliber, but there’s no news regarding it. How long will we wait for new info?
A: The answer is simple – work! If a game is suppose to be good, it needs a huge amount of work in a long period of time. It’s a slightly new genre for us, which means a lot of work for the whole team. When something is ready, we will shot it.
Q: What do you think – how does the future of the WG Labs project look, since it only released one important game, namely Master of Orion?
A: Let’s first state that WG Labs isn’t a separate company. You have to understand that Wargaming is a company which we grounded on solid, long-term projects. WG Labs is mostly about searching interesting things that are happening and reaching out to forge new friendships in the trade. Many times WG Labs reps visit exhibitions, and sometimes they look for interesting projects to realize, or co-realize. You have to understand that hits don’t appear every year.
