There’s no disputing World Of Tanks’ wild success on Xbox Live, so it was only a matter of time before it rolled out onto Xbox One. We speak with associate publisher producer Marvin Hall to get the first details.
It’s great to hear that World Of Tanks will be making its way to Xbox One, but why has it taken so long to make the generation leap ?
Marvin Hall: We just hit our one-year anniversary a few months after the Xbox One did. We originally decided to develop for the platform with the largest number of users, which was Xbox 360 at the time. World Of Tanks is a massively multiplayer action game that requires a large user base to support it. It was obviously the right choice as World Of Tanks is the most successful console F2P game to date. Now it’s time to take that success to the Xbox One.
What does the power of the Xbox One allow you to do with World Of Tanks that you weren’t previously able to on Xbox 360?
Lots! Full 1080p gameplay, higher poly tanks, higher resolution textures, greater than 4X the 360. We are adding all sorts of advanced lighting, even more complex FX, greater soundscapes and more. These heavy metal monsters (tanks) really come to life on Xbox One.
How will World Of Tanks on Xbox One be different to the Xbox 360 and PC versions?
The Xbox 360 version was completely rebuilt and differs greatly from the PC version. It’s a more streamlined and faster experience, designed to be played with a controller from six or more feet away on modern HD TVs. The Xbox One version builds upon that with incredible graphic upgrades, cross platform play, integration with Xbox One features like live Twitch streaming, Game Clips and Game Hubs.
How important was it to Wargaming to let gamers bring all of their progress, tanks and account over to World Of Tanks on Xbox One?
It was a vital aspect to the design and project as players invest a lot of time into World Of Tanks. While it would have been easier to not allow this, the right choice was to keep the progress the players have made supporting the game over the past year.
While the graphical boost is appreciated, we often hear from our community that the menu and interface systems can seem confusing, especially for new players. Is there any chance of this being overhauled in future?
If you’ve been following the game over the past year then you know we’re constantly updating and improving the UI. We’ve listened to the players and have added quite a few new features and changes to the first time user experience. We’ve added help screens and training videos for just about everything. Along the way we’re added highly requested features like a full map mini map and a filter system for player’s tank collection.
What technical hurdles did you have to overcome to let gamers battle cross platform?
Ask me again once we’ve released we’re not done quite yet! The two Live networks are separate so we’re wiring all the pieces together on our servers. Players will be able to play with their account on both platforms seamlessly and even switch back and forth. We’ve just added cross-platform voice chat which was a big player request and that’s really important to us.
Will we ever be able to fight against PC players on Xbox One?
Technically, it’s feasible, but we’ve diverged from the PC game so much it would hardly be fair to our PC brethren. All kidding aside, the PC game is as heavily optimised for that experience as the console version is for playing from your couch, controller in hand, yelling into your headset and hearing the glorious sounds of combat coming from your home theatre system.
What do you attribute to the massive success of World Of Tanks ? Free-to-play games have had typically had a tough time establishing an audience on Xbox.
I don’t think there’s any one reason, otherwise it would just be copied over and over. World Of Tanks has been successful on multiple platforms and in practically all regions around the globe. Treating the game as a service is a big one. We released over 40 updates of content and features in the first year. We listen to and engage with World Of Tanks players in the forums, at player gatherings, conventions and one on one. It’s not just a game, but a worldwide community. Free-to-win is another reason. No player can pay to have a gameplay advantage over another player. Monetisation allows for customisation, collectability and speeding up progression. World Of Tanks is never in your face about spending money. The option is there for those that want to but if you don’t want to you can have the same high stakes action and strategy experience for free, for always.
The big question when can we expect to World Of Tanks to release on Xbox One?
I can answer almost everything but the date. As a developer, they don’t trust me not to tell you that it will be sometime this year.
“It’s not just a game, but a worldwide community”
It’s great to hear that World Of Tanks will be making its way to Xbox One, but why has it taken so long to make the generation leap ?
Marvin Hall: We just hit our one-year anniversary a few months after the Xbox One did. We originally decided to develop for the platform with the largest number of users, which was Xbox 360 at the time. World Of Tanks is a massively multiplayer action game that requires a large user base to support it. It was obviously the right choice as World Of Tanks is the most successful console F2P game to date. Now it’s time to take that success to the Xbox One.
What does the power of the Xbox One allow you to do with World Of Tanks that you weren’t previously able to on Xbox 360?
Lots! Full 1080p gameplay, higher poly tanks, higher resolution textures, greater than 4X the 360. We are adding all sorts of advanced lighting, even more complex FX, greater soundscapes and more. These heavy metal monsters (tanks) really come to life on Xbox One.
How will World Of Tanks on Xbox One be different to the Xbox 360 and PC versions?
The Xbox 360 version was completely rebuilt and differs greatly from the PC version. It’s a more streamlined and faster experience, designed to be played with a controller from six or more feet away on modern HD TVs. The Xbox One version builds upon that with incredible graphic upgrades, cross platform play, integration with Xbox One features like live Twitch streaming, Game Clips and Game Hubs.
How important was it to Wargaming to let gamers bring all of their progress, tanks and account over to World Of Tanks on Xbox One?
It was a vital aspect to the design and project as players invest a lot of time into World Of Tanks. While it would have been easier to not allow this, the right choice was to keep the progress the players have made supporting the game over the past year.
While the graphical boost is appreciated, we often hear from our community that the menu and interface systems can seem confusing, especially for new players. Is there any chance of this being overhauled in future?
If you’ve been following the game over the past year then you know we’re constantly updating and improving the UI. We’ve listened to the players and have added quite a few new features and changes to the first time user experience. We’ve added help screens and training videos for just about everything. Along the way we’re added highly requested features like a full map mini map and a filter system for player’s tank collection.
What technical hurdles did you have to overcome to let gamers battle cross platform?
Ask me again once we’ve released we’re not done quite yet! The two Live networks are separate so we’re wiring all the pieces together on our servers. Players will be able to play with their account on both platforms seamlessly and even switch back and forth. We’ve just added cross-platform voice chat which was a big player request and that’s really important to us.
Will we ever be able to fight against PC players on Xbox One?
Technically, it’s feasible, but we’ve diverged from the PC game so much it would hardly be fair to our PC brethren. All kidding aside, the PC game is as heavily optimised for that experience as the console version is for playing from your couch, controller in hand, yelling into your headset and hearing the glorious sounds of combat coming from your home theatre system.
What do you attribute to the massive success of World Of Tanks ? Free-to-play games have had typically had a tough time establishing an audience on Xbox.
I don’t think there’s any one reason, otherwise it would just be copied over and over. World Of Tanks has been successful on multiple platforms and in practically all regions around the globe. Treating the game as a service is a big one. We released over 40 updates of content and features in the first year. We listen to and engage with World Of Tanks players in the forums, at player gatherings, conventions and one on one. It’s not just a game, but a worldwide community. Free-to-win is another reason. No player can pay to have a gameplay advantage over another player. Monetisation allows for customisation, collectability and speeding up progression. World Of Tanks is never in your face about spending money. The option is there for those that want to but if you don’t want to you can have the same high stakes action and strategy experience for free, for always.
The big question when can we expect to World Of Tanks to release on Xbox One?
I can answer almost everything but the date. As a developer, they don’t trust me not to tell you that it will be sometime this year.