World of Tanks is, for a lack of a better phrase, “kind of a big deal.” The game has over 77 million registered PC users from around the world and soon the game will be making the jump from PC to the Xbox 360. While the Xbox 360 version has yet to be released, the developers are already considering the move to the Xbox One market as well.
During an interview at Gamescom, Victor Kislyi, the CEO of Wargaming, spoke about the possibility of a next-gen version of World of Tanks. The possibility of course depends heavily on whether or not the market for an Xbox One version of World of Tanks is desired by gamers.
“I see no reason why we won’t eventually do next-gen,” said Kisyli, “But first, let them come out. Second, let them have a meaningful user base.”
It will be interesting to see how many players are supported in each match on Xbox Live.
Having a dedicated user base is important to Wargaming because World of Tanks will continue to be a free-to-play title when it launches onto the console scene. With any free-to-play title, having dedicated users increases the possibility that company will be able to earn money for their game. The same idea will apply to World of Tanks if it is going to make the leap into next-gen gaming as well.
“On the PC, we have 77 million registered users worldwide,” said Kislyi. “More than 75 percent of our players never pay us anything. We only monetize a small percentage who deliberately, from time to time, give us something in the range of the price of a movie ticket. So one million, say, is not enough of a user base for a free-to-play game. However, let them come out. There are no tangible restrictions.”
World of Tanks will need to have a rather large following from the Xbox One community to make the the jump to next-gen worth the investment for Wargaming. Being that many players do not buy into any of the “premium” content, Wargaming will want the largest consumer base possible to make releasing the game worth their while. The Xbox 360 version will give Wargaming an idea as to how well a console version of World of Tanks will do, and will also help them gauge the market for an Xbox One version as well.
The Xbox 360 version of World of Tanks is set to release in Summer 2013 and that means that the release date could be any day now if the date does not get pushed back. From the gameplay trailer, the Xbox 360 version looks to match the PC version well and could open a new market for Wargaming. Possibly, a market that will expand into the next-gen era but only time will tell.
