— Greetings, Dmitry. Tell us how the idea of creating a World War mode come about?

Hi there. Even when War Thunder first began, it was obvious to us that a game such as ours would require a historical game mode allowing players to feel like a hero of real military historical events without any restrictions inherent in wall-to-wall battles, as is common in other similar games.

In contrast, historical battles are battles that are strict on the participants, in which the two sides can fight in dramatically different conditions, with different combat tasks and available vehicles. Such mechanics are not suitable for classical random sessions, because the way in which the teams must play, in order to win in such battles, is different. At the same time, the battles of World War are linked by a major goal - total operational victory. The unpredictability, complexity, and uniqueness of this mode are the major features which will help define what you might come to expect in World War.

— We would like to know more about how the mode works

It's a big thing. At first, we created our own engine for World War mode. Scenarios are available to players - these exhibit ‘slices’ of the known stages of the historical battles of various theaters of war. Players manage armies on a real world map, engage in separate battles, and influence the current state of affairs in operations, either following history or radically changing it.

World War itself will be built from regular seasons, in which we will present new scenarios, different in years, theater of operations, participating vehicles and tasks. At the end of the season, the most effective squadron and players will receive valuable prizes - individual for each new season.

Detailed elaboration of operations, which takes into account the historical balance of forces in the beginning while allowing for an unpredictable outcome, will remain unchanged in the seasons.

— What goes on inside a scenario?

As mentioned above, a scenario is a real battle held in the past during WWII. Each includes a global map of the real world where the armies are located. Armies are presented with vehicles which were, at this period of time, at the disposal of the commanders of the operation. Players are invited to play for one of the opposing sides, playing the real course of history or changing it - perhaps correcting tactical mistakes documented by historians. Squadron commanders begin on the map of the operation of battle - the mechanics will be similar to that of regular battles. In such battles, not only squadron members are involved, but all players when they choose their side of the conflict and the appropriate battle.

— And what do these battles look like to their participants?

Technically, these are familiar sessions, but what happens at the beginning of the battle will be determined by the type of armies, the vehicles and current status of the armies, their armaments, and even the sector in which the armies collide - all of which will affect the type of mission and its objectives.

— For example?

Let's say an aviation army is attacking a ground army - their aim is to attack the vehicle column, and the defensive side controls the SPAAG while trying to repel the attack.

At the same time, on the other side of the front, the tank army will attack the enemy's entrenched position - obviously, this will make the task more difficult for the attackers, whose goal is to capture a well-fortified position. There will already be entrenched forces there (as you will see), and time will not be on the side of the attackers. To help one’s fighters, the commander of the attacking side will send attackers (aircraft) into this battle, which will be immediately available to the attacking players.

There are many options! We have prepared a WIKI article about missions, but in general, each battle is a small World War.

— It sounds ambitious and interesting, but how will the mode be developed in the future?

Obviously, we will be adding new scenarios and awards, implementing even more missions, and following your feedback and suggestions on your World War mode experience very closely.

In the future, naval forces may also be involved in World War, and there may be post-war scenarios, and perhaps interesting ideas on alternative history, if appropriate.

— What else are you going to tell us about World War?

There is one important detail to tell you about, without which, World War mode would, at best, have been delayed. Entire squadrons and single players helped us develop the mode by participating in lengthy testing and the sharing of ideas, many of which we have implemented.

We thank Dmitry Gordeev, the Gaijin game designer and developer of the World War mode, for an interesting conversation.