[WoTB] Meet the Team

Meet the team behind the recently released World of Tanks Blitz.

[WoTB] World of Tanks Blitz: Tanks and Tablets

Popularity of the original World of Tanks did not leave aspiring game development studios indifferent. Since 2011 WoT-resembling (in terms of gameplay) products started to rocket on different platforms including mobile - smartphones and tablets. Naturally Wargaming.net is not going to disappoint their customers and is going to come up with their decent version of tanks for tablets.

Developing games for iOS and Android platforms is a very special case that requires very dedicated and focused professionals. Wargaming didn't have that kind of expertise until recently.

DAVA, a Belarusian development studio, was founded in March, 2008 in Minsk. The guys chose their specialization right away. They decided they would be developing apps for iOS. The date of founding the studio is close to the date of App Store creation (July 10, 2008). So, we may say that DAVA is a peer of the most popular iOS apps store.

While others were examining the newly appeared service, the young studio was already developing products for it and was among the pioneers on the newly-formed market.

DAVA had for co-founders: Andrew Karpiuk, Vitaly Borodovsky, Dmitry Bobrovnichiy, and Alexander Fomenko; as well as six key soldiers: Ivan Petrochenko, Alexey Prosin, Stepan Drozd, Kirill Poliakov, Victor Kleschenko, and Alexey Alexeev. This were the “bones” of the young development studio. Nobody in Belarus had developed anything for iOS befor DAVA was founded. And obviously WoT Blitz is not the first product the team has worked on. They had produced quite a few games and apps (with over 10 mln downloads and over a million purchases) before they started working on WoT Blitz. The team used to work as a subcontractor for Electronic Arts, iWin, Freeverse, and other publishers. The audience of DAVA own product users is about 9 million with a lot of apps and games to appear among TOP100 in free and grossing charts.

Some of the DAVA products include:

Modern Weapons: Small Arms (encyclopedia)

Jewel Quest Mysteries

Space Storm

Wargaming has been in touch with DAVA for quite some time. There even were a few ex-Wargamers working for DAVA. The acquisition finally took place in 2011. The first major game project - World of Tanks Blitz - was started in spring 2012 (first prototype) and officially greenlit in December 2012.

The mobile department of Wargaming currently consists of 3 independent teams:

-       The WoT Blitz team distributed in Minsk and a few Ukrainian cities.

-    Framework team (cross-platorm game engine development)

-       The Service Apps team developing apps assistants World of Tanks and World of Warplanes

Vitaly Borodovsky - tech director

UX/UI design in progress

Designing maps for Blitz

GD is thinking over a new feature - agile board in the background

As for the game, WoT Blitz, it has been demoed at multiple gaming shows throughout 2013 and early 2014, including public gaming areas during G-Star 2013 in Korea and Taipei Game Show 2014, which means that the game in nearing closed beta with iOS release scheduled for first half of 2014.

A couple of new screenies below.

The map is called "Mines". Should be recognizable 

From another perspective with HUD

Another map - Copperfield

[WoWS] People, Who Are Making the Game for You

Hi guys!

I came up with a great idea to introduce you those who’ve been developing the highly anticipated naval MMO World of Warships.

Let's start!

Anrew Gashkov aka Tarn, Lead Producer for World of Warships

It is he who makes final decisions on gameplay, economics, balancing and other project’s issues. He is also acts a mediator between Minsk and Saint Petersburg offices, promptly acting if something goes wrong.

Ivan Moroz aka Black Warrior, Production Producer for WoWS

An extremely experienced game industry professional, who’s published dozens of titles, including notable Pacific Storm by Lesta Studio.

Malik Khatajaev, General Manager at Lesta Studio (Wargaming’s St.Petersburg studio responsible for WoWS development)

The real stager at game industry, who founded the studio more than 21 years ago. Being a merit professional manager, he is also famous for creating comfortable and cozy atmosphere within World of Warships development team. 
 

Danila Volkov aka Danny, WoWS Project Manager

His will-to-win spirit and eagerness do their best for World of Warships’ future success.

Petr Porai-Koshitс aka PPK, Head of Game Design at Lesta Studio

An unbelievably creative person who leads GD-team with his ideas on how to implement just the best game features. 
 

Slava Makarov, the mighty Vice President of Wargaming. Each upcoming title by Wargaming depends on his approval and – just believe me – World of Warships’ strategic vision is in safe hands. 
 

Slava Goncharov aka Uldor, Historical Consultant of our game

He is the person who seeks the best references, drawings and blueprints for every ship, which will be delivered in the game just for you. 

Well, that's me, Alexey Levakov aka KGB. Being a producer for World of Warships, sometimes I perform as a talking head… As you can see, I’m incredibly fond of DSLRs (and mirrorless cameras), though I’m far from calling myself a professional photographer.

Vladimir Gremitskiy. Guess, who's the Head of Art Department? Yes, exactly the person, who’s looking at you with sharp eyes from the picture. His religious exactitude and thorough attention to details let us be sure that World of Warships is going to have the highest quality ship models ever made. 
 

Polina Malisheva is a Creative Director at Lesta Studio. Her experience and inapproachable artistic taste are the traits that will reliably assure World of Warships a perfect look. 
 

These are the people patiently developing World of Warships. In the near future you will get a chance to evaluate the result of their joint efforts and talents, playing our ass-kicking game! 

:)

Thanks for reading, folks.

KGB

[WoWP] Meet the Dev Team

WoWP developer Persha Studia, located in Kiev (Ukraine), currently comprises around 150 people involved in the project. Of course, the Minsk HQ side (WoT dev) provide any necessary support and assistance, the development is Kiev-based. Let's take a look at wheres and whos.

The new office does look more like a bank or some kind of financial institution. :)

However, it's not the building but people that matter.

Lead game designer Ivan Kulbich holds a game design meeting with his team.

Oleg Gotynyan is WoWP development director with extensive experience in both software development and game industry. This guy has got tremendous organizational skills.

Some photos of the team:

Going through references:

Coding hard :)

What game is he developing? o_O

THE mighty QA. Bugs won't come through. :)

Also check out latest Q&As on both: EU and US sides.

PS. Latest poll results (votes / %):
Tier 10 meds and tank destroyers in WoT?
Yeah! Bring them in!  - 1915 (75%)
There is no place for them in game  - 449 (17%) 
I don't know / don't care - 202 (8%)   

The new poll is up.