World of Tanks dev created new hero shooter to avoid being "eaten alive" by vets

Striking the balance between realism and engaging gameplay is a fascinating element of game design. It's an arena where far too many battles often rage, as the most die hard heritage buffs criticize every spoke and sprocket slightly out of place. For the most part, World of Tanks excels at finding common ground, meticulously recreating the likes of the Tiger I, M4 Sherman, and Crusader from archival material, while ensuring players don't have to worry about them breaking down mid-game. The studio's upcoming spinoff, World of Tanks Heat, takes many more historical liberties when it comes to amping up the action, foregoing function for freneticism in places. Speaking to Jamie at Gamescom, communications director Konrad Rawiński and game director Artyom Yantsevich explain why the shooter stands alone from its bigger brother.

To say the World of Tanks Heat Gamescom trailer took me by surprise would be an understatement. Admittedly, I've long thought of World of Tanks as a traditional milsim (silly me), and its younger sibling has doubly-threshed that idea from my brain. I was left in shock as tanks rocketed across the screen, more Porsche 911 than Porsche Tiger. My ears pumped full of The Prodigy, it took me a hot second to process what I'd just seen in the upcoming PC game's explosive reveal.

Taking its gameplay trappings from classic vehicle fighters and hero shooters, World of Tanks Heat is a very different beast. Set in an alternative post-Second World War setting where technology's cracked on considerably, the breakneck 10v10 steel-smashing shooter immediately takes me back to my days playing Vigilante 8 on the N64. As Rawiński explains, Heat is "70% based on real tanks, and we add 30% of our imagination in how it stacks up with fast and dynamic gameplay."

Expanding on this, Yantsevich says that, while much of Heat's design is grounded in that same archival research present in World of Tanks, the devs "fantasize about this as a Popular Mechanics magazine." While an alternate take on history, he says "it can still be a reality. Right now, we have this technology, as some people already use it, but the idea of this technology came up during this period [the second half of the 20th Century]."

With a focus on operator-based classes and a huge variety of tank customization options, Heat is loosening its ties with realism. Suffice it to say, this would go down like a lead balloon with players if it was built into World of Tanks itself, and the devs know this.

"If we tried to do something like this in regular World of Tanks, we would be eaten alive by our community," Rawiński jovially asserts. "That's why we went in the direction that it needs to be completely separate. We have a really huge hope that it will attract lots of not only World of Tanks players, but also new players that are looking for something fun."

This more approachable entry point into tank warfare, Yantsevich says, is a major element of Heat's raison d'etre. "We're standing on the shoulder of giants inside the vehicular combat niche, and we're experimenting to add some new flavor and provide an opportunity for players who have not invested 10-15 years into World of Tanks."

It's a bold move. There's a litany of shooter sequels and spinoffs on the market that have attempted to broaden their appeal to players beyond their traditional scope, only to capture neither new player nor vet. I recently reported on pulled portal shooter Splitgate 2, which immediately comes to mind. If World of Tanks Heat can get its own balancing act right, though, then we're in for a thumping good time.

While World of Tanks Heat has yet to receive a release date, we do know it will be a free-to-play experience. Let's just hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as Steel Hunters.

In the meantime, check out more of the best free PC games and best free Steam games you can pass the time with without spending a dollar.

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Additional reporting by Jamie Hore at Gamescom.