Exclusive: Interview with World of Warplanes Aleksandr Zezulin

We’ve approached the Wargaming.net team, creators of the famous online game World of Tanks and the franchise that followed, with the request of an interview. That request was recently granted and Aleksandr Zezulin, a valuable member of the World of Warplanes team, has kindly offered to answer our questions. In the following lines we’ve exposed some precious info about what’s behind the upcoming aircraft warfare game and when should we expect it to launch. Without further ado…

Hello guys. We’ve been with you since the launch of World of Tanks and we have lived to see a wonderful game mature into a franchise that covers earth, water and air elements. Can you please detail what World of Warplanes is all about?

• Aleksandr: If someone asked me to define World of Warplanes in three words, I would call it a ‘dynamic warplane hack-and-slash’. It’s a free-to-play MMO action game dedicated to air combat. The game covers the period from 1930’s with its slow biplanes and right up to the middle of 1950’s, including the Korean War era planes and the invention of the jet. World of Warplanes shares the same concept with World of Tanks. A number of peculiarities connected with air combat predetermined a dynamic 3D character of the title as well as several other aspects, such as, for instance, game modes. As far as a warbird can’t secure a base, World of Warplanes will be largely about destroying either ground or air enemy targets.
  

  Alexander Zezulin

Speaking of air-fighting jets, how will this game differ from other existing creations in its class?

• Aleksandr: To begin with, we don’t limit ourselves to jet planes only and are working on a wide range of vehicles. Apart from that, World of Warplanes will have much to offer as regards game controls and progression system. The game is user friendly and anyone who is more or less accustomed to shooters or familiar with WoT won’t encounter any problems adjusting to it. We’ve developed a fairly simple flight mode, unobtrusive interface and a number of special features to assist those new to flying and piloting. In other words, World of Warplanes will combine simplified controls with deep game mechanics and sophisticated damage system.

We’ve seen on the official website that a normal player could choose from three main airplane classes, one of them being the strafing aircraft’s, described as “the fearsome threat for ground targets”. Taking in consideration that this is only an air versus air game, what does that mean?

• Aleksandr: World of Warplanes fields three primary classes of warbirds (light fighters, heavy fighters and attack planes) with original and engaging gameplay for every type of vehicles. As for the attack planes, gameplay for them will involve hitting ground targets, such as tanks, warships, trains, etc. Players piloting them will engage in combat and contribute to their team’s victory. Bases in World of Warplanes will be represented by pipelines, factories, forts and some other units. They will require more than a bomb or a missile to destroy. To destroy a base, players will have to breach enemies’ anti-aircraft defensives. This is to say, World of Warplanes is not only air combat, it involves ground attacks as well. The latter might be performed by any aircraft, regardless its tier.

How long will the game take until release and should we see a beta phase coming soon?

• Aleksandr: Although it’s a general practice at Wargaming.net to unveil no firm dates, we hope to launch an updated World of Warplanes promo webpage any time soon. It will provide substantial information about the game itself and give you an opportunity to become a part of WoWP community and participate in various contests. Having won in a contest, you might get a chance to take part in WoW closed beta testing.

At the end of the development, how many aircraft models could a player choose from?

• Aleksandr: Upon the release, World of Warplanes will include about 60 warbirds from USA, Germany, and USSR. National trees will come with a branch of light fighters and a class of warplanes unique for every nation, such as gunships, heavy fighters, and naval aircrafts. Later on every nation will get a fully implemented technical tree.

Should we expect a unifying platform, which will blend all WoT, World of Warplanes and World of Battleships elements into a limitless war?

• Aleksandr: We are working on three standalone games with different gameplay. We’d like to make each title interesting and appealing, without mixing them gameplay-wise. Therefore WoT, WoWP and WoB won’t have integrated combat, mainly due to different gameplay approaches and different size of the maps. As for the unifying platform, games will have common monetary system. An integrated game profile will allow players transfer both gold and experience from one ‘world’ to another. Limitless war will be realized through relative integration on the Clan Wars level. Although we aren’t planning to mix tanks, battleships and planes in real battles, air clans, naval and tank clans will cooperate and support each other on the Global Map, for instance, there’ll be an option to call in AI-controlled airstrike that will add more fun and tactics into the game.