This December, a special event dedicated to Wargaming games brought some of our devoted fans and experienced players together in Moscow. Those who attended this event heard firsthand our future development plans for World of Tanks, which we’re ready to share with you. Let’s roll!
The 10th Anniversary of World of Tanks
Next year marks the 10th anniversary of our game. A great round number and a really considerable age for a project in the game industry. We simply have to celebrate this anniversary in a big way, together with all our fans, and we're already working hard on its concept.
The celebrations will kick off in the spring of 2020 and will consist of several stages.
- Each stage will correspond to a certain milestone of the project, which has left its mark in the hearts of players. A feast of rewards, new mechanics, and engaging events await, so get ready to party with us!
- We also plan to launch a grand Tank Festival at the final stage of the anniversary.
Crew 2.0
The new year brings a fundamental change to the crew concept. Its core hasn’t changed for years, limiting itself merely to some minor updates and features (Crew Skins, Crew Books, etc.). World of Tanks is constantly evolving, so the time has come to rethink our vision of the crew concept.
Next year, we'll introduce the brand-new Crew 2.0. There will no longer be tankers with certain specialties in the reworked crew—instead, one commander will take their place. Several commanders will form a unit that can be moved to different tanks, so interacting with it will be more convenient than with individual tankers.
We are also completely redesigning the perks system. The number of available perks will increase to 25, and the crew members training system will change too. You will be able to:
- Choose in which direction to develop the commander's skills.
- Create multiple crew configurations for each vehicle, depending on your gameplay style, which will affect its performance in battle.
Once we introduce Crew 2.0, you can convert the accumulated experience of all existing crew members and direct it to train the new ones. You’ll be able to deploy them in battle instantly, without missing a beat!
It may sound complex now, but we’ll be introducing the revamped crew concept step by step, so it will be easy for everyone to understand and to take advantage of all the new mechanics. Rest assured that you won’t lose any of your progress and hard work! The whole scope of potential changes is still under active development, so stay tuned for more news.
Equipment Reworking
The revision of the crew concept will have an impact on some of the related game mechanics, to which we’ll pay close attention. One of them is the equipment system, which also hasn’t changed for a long time.
Today, for most tanks, there are certain sets of equipment that are available to all players. On the other hand, some types of equipment are not very popular, or no longer consistent with the current gameplay. We aim to change the characteristics of the existing equipment and add new items designed for different vehicles to perform specific combat roles. We also want to add more variety in the choice of equipment and thereby help you develop your arsenal in the direction that matches your play style.
New Balance
This year, we’ve conducted several Sandbox tests to allow you to experience the proposed changes and evaluate them for yourself. The latest iteration, which included important changes to SPGs, has come to an end, and now we’re ready to move forward.
As the changes resulting from these tests will have a direct effect on many important areas of our game, we consider them as part of a large balance update and will be introducing all of them in one massive patch under the New Balance label.
New Balance will consist of two large parts. It will affect not only specific values and balance parameters, but also related features and game aspects.
The first part of the update will involve balance changes—various numerical values and volumes, which we've carefully tested together with you through four iterations of Sandbox since mid-summer of this year. Here’s a brief summary of the main revisions:
- HP improvements for low-tier vehicles
- A rework of all shell types and related changes to durability for all vehicles
- Changes in the mechanics of dealing damage with HE shells
- Rebalancing of SPGs and their shells
In the next round of Sandbox tests, we want to focus on the second part of New Balance: related features.
Planned Sandbox Tests
In the future, we plan to:
- Improve the way in-game statistics are displayed. We don't want to devalue the results that you’ve demonstrated over the years playing World of Tanks. We’ve decided to keep the general statistics for the entire time you’ve been playing the game and continue to update them. At the same time, we aim to introduce a new section of “current” statistics for a fixed period of time, which will allow you to assess your performance with the reworked values.
- Refine Personal Missions. HP improvements and changes in the mechanics of dealing damage with different shells will lead us to the need to revise the Personal Missions associated with these parameters. We’ll redesign their conditions to maintain the complexity of completion at the same level.
- Adjust in-game economy settings. The formula for calculating the rewards earned for a battle, primarily credits and XP, will be revised so that the current values and your total income don't change. You will earn as many resources per battle as before.
- Revise vehicle research branches. We intend to revise the composition of vehicles in the tech trees from Tier I to Tier IV in almost all nations. We’ll decrease the number of low-tier tanks in the tech trees, so you can more conveniently switch between different development branches, for example, between medium and heavy tanks. These low-tier tanks will remain in the game, they simply can no longer be researched.
Next year, we will launch several iterations of Sandbox, the first of which will be at the beginning of 2020. We want to roll these changes out as soon as possible, so if our tests are successful, we aim to release them in the first quarter of next year.
These changes will have a massive impact on the whole World of Tanks ecosystem, so it is very important that you join the tests and influence the decisions that we need to make. Your feedback is vital to ensuring that our game evolves in the right direction. Let’s shape the future together!
Frontline + Steel Hunter
This year, our Frontline mode became a great alternative to Random Battles. We tried hard to surprise in the most epic mode in World of Tanks, and we succeeded—most players really enjoyed it. Your interest in Frontline has been consistently high throughout the year, and we got a lot of feedback from you.
Also this year, we released another mode, Steel Hunter, which turned your game experience into a frantic and furious demolition derby! The event turned out to be lots of fun, but some of you wanted more variety in the in-battle progression.
We’ve listened to your feedback, and in the second half of 2020, Steel Hunter will return to World of Tanks with a revamped progression system. The mode will be available for a longer period of time, and you will no longer be able to lose Ranks. Moreover, the reworked progression will be integrated with a revamped Frontline, which will be waiting for you in the first half of 2020. Thus, the two most enjoyable modes will offer you an additional common progression, rewarding you with extra prizes in addition to trophies you can earn playing them separately!
We’ll also add a new atmospheric map for Steel Hunter, as well as unique new vehicles. They will have varying upgrade paths, and each vehicle will play differently from the next, with its own special battle abilities. We plan to introduce some other changes too, so keep your eyes peeled!
Stream Wars
In early 2020, World of Tanks will host Stream Wars, an exciting event with some of the most popular content creators of our game.
Skill4ltu, AwesomeEpicGuys, Dezgamez, and Mailand have been selected for this fight, but only one of them will triumph. The event will be held in a special format and will bring you many valuable rewards. But most importantly, you can earn a crew member with the appearance of your favourite streamer and his exclusive voiceover in battle. Support the participants of the event, show that your favourite has the most close-knit community, and get worthy rewards for your proactive attitude!
PvE Event
In 2020, we'll release a special PvE event with a historical theme. It will be a natural extension of Homefront, which we launched this summer, and will inherit its best gameplay features, with a number of upgrades and modifications.
The tables have turned, and instead of repelling the attacks of hordes of enemies, it’s now time for you to go on the offensive and make rapid attacking maneuvers, conquering enemy territory! Fierce battles will take place on a special Berlin map, among other locations. Ready your rations and pack your repair kits—this battle is sure to be an intense one!
Battle Pass
Next spring, you’ll be able to participate in a long-term and progression-based activity with new mechanics—Battle Pass. To participate in Battle Pass, you will simply need to play in Random Battles, perform at your best, and earn progression points, which will automatically increase your Battle Pass level. The number of points earned depends on your position in your team’s post-battle ranking by XP earned. By reaching each level, you are rewarded with valuable in-game items. There'll be lots of Battle Pass levels, and each provides you with a nice reward.
Among other valuable prizes, you can earn Bounty Equipment, a new special type of standard equipment. Its characteristics can be improved to the level of Improved Equipment, and you can unmount it from your vehicle using gold (not bonds), like standard equipment.
By the way, Battle Pass progression doesn't end after reaching the ultimate level. After completing the main progression, the post-progression journey begins with additional rewards. Also, after reaching the final level of the main progression, you’ll get a Badge that shows your current Battle Pass level—a mark of honor that lets other players know you’re a force to be reckoned with.
Battle Pass will add variety to your daily Random Battles and reward you with cool trophies. Look out for more information on this activity in the days to come!
New Vehicles
We’re constantly looking for outstanding new vehicles and branches to add to World of Tanks. Our key purpose has always been to introduce tanks that will provide you with fresh, dynamic gameplay.
Next year, we plan to release at least two new branches of different nations. One of them, most likely, will be a branch of Italian heavy tanks.
We're still compiling a list of the most suitable vehicles, studying archival documents and blueprints, and working closely with historians. The composition of the branch is still not finalized, but there is no doubt that the new Italian heavy tanks will have familiar firing mechanics and will continue the tradition of the menacing medium tanks of this nation.
Pearl River Map
A new map is always a great opportunity to try out new tactics and experience new battle dynamics. Next year, two more fresh maps will be added to the set of in-game locations, including the fabulous Pearl River, which World of Tanks veterans surely remember. Many of you have asked us to reconfigure and bring back this epic locale from early updates with an Asian motif, so it will be returning in 2020 with significant changes.
We reworked Pearl River in stunning HD and tried to preserve its trademark features, while at the same time giving it a new lease of life as a map for Random Battles. We revamped the configuration of the locale, so its gameplay will be different. The setting of Pearl River will also change—it will come before you as a tropical location, but accompanied by Asian features that are so familiar to many World of Tanks veterans.
The second map, Berlin, will be an entirely new location. All the details will be available later, so stay tuned!
