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MCV can reveal that World of Tanks creator Wargaming will be opening its first western-European development studio in Guildford, UK. From there the studio will work on an as yet unnamed, free-to-play, multi-platform MMO title, which is to be built in Unreal Engine.
The studio appears to represent a new strategy for the company, which has concentrated on its core ‘World of…’ series since 2010, at least in terms of its own fully in-house developed content. To date the company has also used in-house developed engine tech for its titles too.
The new studio will be lead by veteran developer Sean Decker, whose previous roles have included stints at EA and DICE, and most recently CCP. We asked him how his experience will feed into the new studio.
“For the last decade, I have been passionate about games as a service,” Decker told us. “This started with my time at EA, through CCP, and now at Wargaming. CCP’s players are fantastic and as a huge fan of World of Tanks myself, I immediately saw that same passion in Wargaming’s players.”
Decker has been at Wargaming for a few months already and the core concept for the new title has already been decided upon he tells us: “We created several concepts, and this is one that has been picked up. We realised early on that the scope of this IP would need a dedicated studio to work on it.”
Unsurprisingly he won’t reveal much more about the title, though we can’t help but ask if the words ‘World of…’ appear in the title? “Currently, no title has been chosen. But the game will be a free-to-play MMO on multiple platforms,” he replies. “However, we are looking to delve much deeper into co-op and PvE gameplay, in addition to PvP,” he adds.
The studio will start relatively small, Decker tells us: “We are looking at an initial headcount of 25. As the project evolves, we will look at adjusting the scale as needed.” And it’s development talent that’s behind the choice of Guildford as a location.
“With the UK having great links to Europe and the rest of the world, it’s ideal to use as our studio centre,” he notes, adding that “with Guildford being well known for game development, there’s a rich talent pool that we are looking forward to working with.”
“If you’re passionate and talented, we want to hear from you!” Decker finishes.
