At gamescom, the floodgates have been opened for the public. We’ve seen loads of prospective tankers, commanders, captains and generals put their skills to the test across PC, mobile and console. Today, like every day, they’ll be crowding into the booth to check out our gaming presentations, as well as grabbing loads of free goodies.
World of Tanks on Xbox One
World of Tanks on Xbox One has been out for console tankers for just over a month. The press and fans have been busy lining up around the booth for their chance to play the game. World of Tanks on Xbox was the first stage show that kicked off the event. Hosted by Muhsin Yaramis, Head of Customer Service Europe, he was soon joined by Marvin Hall, World of Tanks Console Publishing Producer, as well as Lead Designer Jeff Gregg and Lead Artist Andy Dorizas.
From left to right: Marvin Hall (World of Tanks Console Publishing Producer), Jeff Gregg, and Andy Dorizas
The stage show started like any other Wargaming gamescom presentation: goodies. Lots and lots of goodies. Fans could get their outstretched hands on T-shirts, bonus codes, partner swag like Razer mousepads, sandboxr tank models and J!NX hoodies.
The first half of the presentation was showing the fans just how much work has gone into World of Tanks on Xbox One. The artists had put together a really cool testing environment where they could showcase features like destructible levels thanks to the Havok physics engine. The power of the Xbox One also lets the team create not just destructible arenas, but highly detailed battlegrounds too. Players saw how the tanks rolled through lush areas, flattening grass and uprooting trees. Even the Garage has new lighting effects to make your vehicle look shinier than ever. Then you have the textures of the structures in the levels, not to mention the mayhem their rounds brought on anything from the grass to the buildings.
Next up, it was time to focus on the tanks themselves. This title is the only place where players can find fully HD tanks—every one in the game has thousands of polygons worth of work put into them by over 100 artists. It’s even in the smaller details like how the multiple tracks of tanks are affected over the lands that they travel across. The Chicago-Baltimore team spent a year reconstructing the levels from the ground up so they would meet the high standard the players expect.
Finally, Jeff and Andy play-tested the game and getting the crowd hyped by showing some German tanks wreaking destruction. The new “Proving Grounds” PvE modes, which are exclusive to Xbox One, showed tanks pitted against enemy AI. This helped display the accessibility of the console version by allowing people to adapt the difficulty in the challenges with the vehicles they choose.
World of Tanks
World of Tanks was the first presentation that began the second day of gamescom. Michael Broek, Community Product Specialist for World of Tanks, was first on the stage after the dancers had finished spinning their neon batons. Artiom Muraska, World of Tanks European Publishing Producer, and Anton Pankov, Executive Global Publishing Producer, to let the crowds know what they were in for, soon joined him.
Next came the swag, and it was bigger and better than ever. The people crowd were already hyped, but when the likes of Italeri models, Razer headphones, GIGABYTE tech, J!NX hoodies and bonus codes being tossed about, it took everything to the next level.
There were lots of exciting announcements for the World of Tanks presentation. The first reveal were some of the tanks featured in the Czechoslovakian Tech Tree, a long anticipated new line that includes a very quick set of tanks. Players can look forward to the Skoda T-25, LT.VZ35, KH50, and an LT.V.38. If that’s not enough, there is also the Skoda T-40 and the TVP T5 0-51.
The crowd got the chance to see these beasts in action as they roamed some idyllic rural environments to showcase the new Czech map. The map itself is like a disused tank factory/rundown brewery, inspired by history and complete with monuments and familiar sights. Here, players will get the chance to scoot inside and outside of the factory. The whole environment measures 800x800 meters. There are broken buildings and large abandoned warehouses to stalk foes.
Next up was the new Polish map, which measures at an impressive 1x1 km. Again, the level is inspired by history, and players can find various monuments scattered around the map. There are a number of hilly areas to take cover and storm blindly in the surrounding countryside, with hilly environments and secluded cottages.
A new Premium German Tier 8 heavy was shown, the Kanonenjagdpanzer. We also saw the upgraded physics engine, allowing tankers to utilize handbrake turns and drifting for some slick tricks.
Japanese heavy tanks also made an appearance, including the 0-1 100, a boxy and slow but powerful tank. The 0-1 120, a Tier 8 Japanese heavy tank also known as the O-ho, was shown to the crowd, too.
The new “Berlin” map made an appears with a huge reaction from the fans. This map takes place in a devastated environment that now lies in ruins. The Brandenburg gate is the most iconic monument in the map, and commanders will be able to battle through the area.
Last but not least, stream QuickyBaby took to the stage for a very special battle with the crew, taking the crowd by storm.
World of Warships
The presentation started with giving away some free swag like T-shirts and exclusive World of Warships bonus codes for Diana, flung into the crowd by Mo Fadl (eSports) and Artur Plociennik, World of Warships Global Publishing Producer. The biggest announcement for the game was the announcement of the German Tech Tree. Ships such as Dresden and Hermelin were shown, as well as the much-anticipated Bismarck and Tirpitz battleships.
The crowd got to learn about the full achievement system in World of Warships, the low down on Signal Flags (up to 8 on each ship) and Camouflage. They saw how the modernizations and a revamped ship outfitting system functioned, as well as Consumables (such as gold Consumables), shell selection and gold ammo.
Mo getting ready to hand out some more goodies
Finally, it was time to play the game. The first game was displaying the might of Bismarck, which, of course, received a big cheer from the crowd. This went down well despite the fact that Artur was not having the best time with battleship, jokingly coming under fire from enemy craft and hosts alike. The second match showed off Yamikaze and the crowd when crazy when they saw the might of torpedoes in action as they sank enemy vessels.
World of Tanks Mobile
World of Tanks Mobile means World of Tanks Blitz and World of Tanks Generals. The first is Wargaming’s hit on Android and iOS devices, which saw Marcus Blaesche, Publishing Producing Team Lead take to the stage. After giving away some swag like cool 3D printed tanks, it was time to show some actual gameplay of a PvP battle, with tanks tearing around “Middelburg”.
Then, after some more swag was handed out, it was time to show some tactical card action. It was World of Tanks Generals’ debut on iOS at an EXPO, with players able to have some hands-on time. Aleksandra Chmielewska, Community Product Specialist for Mobile, and Alberto Delgado, Community Product Specialist for World of Tanks Generals joined Marcus on the stage. The two faced off in a PvP battle, where Alberto took the lead. Then, the team gave out different prizes depending on who was victorious. More swag, then more battling. This time, Aleksandra came out as the better General.