Exclusive World of Warplanes Interview

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Since the announcement at E3 this year there has been much speculation about: World of Warplanes, the successor to the highly successful MMO World of tanks presented by Wargamin.net. We have talked with the lead game designer Sergey Burkatovskiy for this upcoming title.

Q: Could you tell us what time periods the aircrafts in World of Warplanes will encompass? Will the game be comparable to World of Tanks so that we`ll mostly see planes from the World War II?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: World of Warplanes will cover the period between 1930’s to 1950’s. We stick to this time frame because all aircrafts developed and used during it utilized “traditional” equipment and weapons without any automatic technologies that came into use later and decreased pilot’s involvement in the battle. We used the same criteria for World of Tanks and the concept proved to be good.

Q: World of Tanks is a very tactic-based shooter with its rich opportunities to take cover and its slow tanks. But with planes you can´t sit behind a wall and wait for enemies. In which way are you going to create the battlegrounds in order not to present just plain and open fields (in the air)?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: So far we have one testing map in the game that combines both open spaces and mountainous areas so players will have a chance to fly and hide in the canyons. Moreover, there’ll be clouds to hide in during the battles. The direction of sunlight will also influence the visibility of planes.

Q: Is it possible to crash if you would fly too recklessly and overrate your own capabilities?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: For low-tier battles we’ll most likely introduce some sort of an autopilot system that will help the player steer his warbirds . In high-tier clashes players will have to rely on their own skills only.

Q: In World of tanks you stand no chance with a Hetzer against a Maus. But a small plane versus a big one could be different thing entirely. Do you plan on giving players the opportunity to commit suicide by flying into the engine of a bigger plane or by crashing into its wings to complete the mission?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: Absolutely! Pilots will be given the option of ramming enemy units – and we assume that this “maneuver” would be used quite frequently. However, in this case we’ll have to step back from realism as ramming will not necessarily knock out hostile vehicles but will only damage them instead.

Q: Will the matches start in midair or do players have to start their engines on the ground? Maybe we will see battleships and aircraft carriers as well?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: We do not consider the process of taking off to be a crucial gameplay element so the players will most likely start the battle in the midair. As for the landing, we’ll probably leave it as an option that will be available after the battle is already finished – thus, the player will a have a chance to earn some small amount of XP points at the same time taking the risk of losing credits needed for repairs in case of unlucky landing.

Q: Could you give us some details about the level-system?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: The basic idea will be the same as in World of Tanks – you earn XP and credits, buy upgrades and level up. However, there’ll be some peculiarities as well. For instance, players will be able to pick up the number of machineguns they want to have on some of the models of their warplanes.

Q: Will there be some cutting points between World of Tanks and World of Warplanes?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: World of Warplanes is a standalone game with its own “ecosystem”, however, players will be able to transfer gold and experience from one game to another. On the Global Map level air clans and tank clans will cooperate and support each other as well.

Q: Will it be possible to play in small groups without a premium-account?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: In World of Tanks we’ve introduce free 2-strong platoons with the recent update so we’ll probably have the same option for World of Warplanes as well.

Q: Do you think about the possibility to connect your games and the maps? How about the Erlenberg map where I could imagine tanks slugging it out on the ground while planes are fighting in the air. Could they see each other or even interact?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: The situation is as following: tank maps are 1kmX1km in size which is too small for air combat. Of course, we will increase the size of maps for planes, but they will become too big for armored battles.

Q: What size do you have in mind for the maps, especially in comparison with World of Tanks because an aircraft is much faster?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: The maps will be around 15kmX15km in size. For high-tier battles where jet planes will take part the size will be enlarged. We assume this space will be enough for air fights.

Q: Do you plan titles like “World of Battleships” or “World of Infantry” and do you have plans to combine all those games one day to make a huge wargame with all its facets?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: We have one unannounced game in development and will reveal the secret quite soon – at GamesCom.

Q: I think it is a balancing act to make a game for the hardcore simulation-fan and the big audience. Will it be possible for me to confidently fly into the battle without crashing 150 times and to appeal to the flight simulation nerd at the same time?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: I’m not a “virtual” ace myself, but I find the battles in World of Warplanes quite interesting and engaging. At the same time we have some truly hardcore flight simulator players on our team that find the gameplay deep enough for their sophisticated tastes. What’s important is that we will make the controls simple and user-friendly omitting all these tricky tumblers and levers needed just to take off in some flight sims. We want the player to fight against the enemy, not against the controls.

Q: Will there be invisible walls at the sides of the map? Are there any boundaries at all?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: There will be boundaries as we have to somehow limit the space available for battles and they’ll be clearly marked to let the player see where the map ends.

Q: Please give us some details on the payment-system.

Sergey Burkatovskiy: World of Tanks free-to-play model was well accepted by our players and proved to be fair. We’ll stick to the same model with World of Warplanes adding only some minor changes.

Q: How long do we have to wait for World of Warplanes? Any hints about a possible starting date of the beta?

Sergey Burkatovskiy: It’s a tricky question. We’re planning on launching the closed beta by the end of the year, however I could not be more specific.

Q: Thank you very much.