World of Warplanes' First Year: In Review

WORLD OF WARPLANES 1.0 - November 13 2013

World of Warplanes officially took off into the skies on November 13, 2013. Previously, a successful Open Beta had allowed participating testers to try out the game upfront so that our developers could use their feedback to shape the final look and feel of the game. The release was also an opportunity for us to thank our community for their continuous support as we gave out gift planes, Premium Account and various other rewards for the most dedicated players.

A couple of weeks later, we introduced Unified Free XP for the entire Wargaming community, allowing players to share their progress throughout all Wargaming titles.

UPDATE 1.1 - December 18 2013

The first update to the game followed shortly. Apart from a festive Hangar, Update 1.1's main highlight was the introduction of a branch of new Focke-Wulf aircraft. The nine new fighters were a long-anticipated addition to the game and filled out the German tech tree nicely.

Other prominent additions included two new maps; diverse locations for mid- and high-tier battles.

UPDATE 1.2 - March 6 2014

The development of the game continued with Update 1.2 early in the year, bringing missions and a much-requested Replay feature to World of Warplanes. While the former allowed virtual pilots to look for new challenges (and score new rewards), the replay functionality allowed players to save and re-watch their most memorable performances.

The feature also served as the basis for our Follow the Leader contests that further rewarded the community.

UPDATE 1.3 - April 23 2014

In late April, the developers followed with Update 1.3, introducing a new branch of U.S. heavy fighters into the mix of available aircraft.

The new tech tree extension included not only legendary warbirds such as the P-38 Lightning, F7F Tigercat and the powerful F2H Banshee, but also brought back a crowd favorite that hadn't been seen since the Beta days -- the popular XF5U Pancake.

UPDATE 1.4 - June 2 2014

The jam-packed Update 1.4 brought a host of new items to the game that further diversified World of Warplanes' gameplay. The highlight for most players was the introduction of five new tier VI Premium aircraft, one for each nation, which increased the Premium plane pool to a respectable 13.

Other additions were two new maps: Winter War and Hidden Airbase, that also introduced night battles into the mix.

Lastly, Update 1.4 also included an SD/HD client separation, allowing players to download different-sized versions of the game depending on their hardware needs.

UPDATE 1.5 - August 20 2014

On the occasion of the European trade show Gamescom 2014, we released Update 1.5, with the undeniable highlight of the Battle Against Bots mode. This new PvE game type allowed players for the first time to play cooperatively against a team of NPC bots -- a welcome addition which facilitated a better learning curve for newcomers.

Other new features were complex ground targets, a revamped National Park and completely new Canyon map, as well as 50 new achievements for the ever-challenge-hungry community.

UPDATE 1.6 - October 22 2014

Our most recent Update, 1.6 further extended the collection of available aircraft by introducing the legendary MiG figther line to the Soviet tech tree.

The other nations got extensions as well, each welcoming a new tier VII Premium aircraft to their lineups.

Last but not least, the developers also reshuffled the plane classes, adding multirole fighters that further accentuated each plane's character.