The creator of World of Tanks spoke about the situation in the gaming industry and future plans of the company

In 2012, the popular World of Tanks game earned Wargaming $ 218 million. In 2014, its revenues exceeded $ 500 million.

Users can purchase items from the reality of the game for their own money. So, an average of about $ 25 per game per month can go. However, the conditions of the game do not imply a mandatory payment.

Vedomosti correspondents talked about the sources of income, marketing, current trends and much more with Viktor Kisly, the head of the company.

Megamind provides the most interesting quotes from the interview .

On entering foreign markets

We all understand that the tank is “sewn up” in the DNA of a Russian person and you won’t do anything about it. Residents of the former Soviet Union play a lot of tanks and did not do this less.

Americans are more spoiled, they need everything to be beautiful, they need to show everything. To say that “We have taken the States,” of course, is impossible. But we got some kind of audience there. These are older men who take children to tank museums and watch the Discovery Channel. Now we are making a new version for the Xbox One, and then, probably, there will be some increase in the number of users in the USA.

For example, in Japan there are few computers, the Japanese play mainly on the Play Station. But if the Japanese fell in love with some game, then he will not get out of it. And this is the most paying audience. But in terms of quantity, they are few in comparison with other countries.

Now we have an audience of the game distributed around 50:50. Half are Russia and the countries of the former USSR, the other half are the rest of the world. That is, the dynamics nevertheless goes towards increasing the international audience, which is logical - because the population of the whole world is larger than the former USSR.

About income

I can only say that Wargaming revenue is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. It is clear that due to the fall of the Russian ruble, our dollar revenue, to put it mildly, did not increase.
But other factors, not necessarily macroeconomic, can also influence revenue. For example, some changes in the game itself.
Example: last year we released a new version of World of Tanks, in which we made several technical mistakes: the storyboard in the game became slower due to the fact that something was poorly rendered there.

About marketing tools and ad revenue

It's hard to say, but we are carefully studying this topic. The same e-sports for us is still a marketing tool to help attract an audience. But everything is moving towards the fact that all this - games, competitions - will become a new media reality.

She is still taking her first steps, but is developing very quickly along with the development of new technologies, mobile devices. Because people mostly watch such things on smartphones and tablets.

About leaving the Cyprus Exchange and the Cyprus crisis

In 2012, we decided to go to the Cyprus Exchange, as we began to build the company's headquarters in Cyprus and manage it completely from there. Shares on the stock exchange were not sold. According to the rules of this exchange, this is possible. It was a placement that imposed all the same restrictions and requirements as with a classic IPO. We have been doing this for several years. What we needed from this, we got: we got some name, grew up a bit and felt more confident in this raging sea of ​​financial instruments (laughs). We don’t need it anymore.

Wargaming is the largest technology company in Cyprus, we are actively involved in the economic and social life of the country, and therefore the past crisis was not just an unpleasant moment for our corporate interests, but a problem for all company employees living here. Of course, we went through certain difficulties, but, as in the case of the purchase of Hellenic Bank shares, the crisis opened up new opportunities for us. Wargaming is primarily a developer and publisher of games known all over the world, so activity in other areas is not so important for us.

About staff migration

As far as I know, we began to receive a little more feedback on vacancies from programmers from Russia, but it is worth considering the fact that Minsk, as well as Kiev and St. Petersburg, has a worthy reputation as an expert center in game development. Wargaming has become a brand in the field of HR, that's why our vacancies are actively interested in Russia, Europe and the USA. Geography is not the most important factor, professionals can make their way in all regions of the world.

About virtual reality technology

Virtual reality technology has made a real breakthrough in the last three years. The prospects for using the Oculus Rift helmet in games are simply impressive; this device can radically change the gaming industry. Our team is actively experimenting with the device, and we have already developed and released a special game mode for Oculus. Incidentally, the introduction of technology has proven to be a very laborious process. We needed to rebuild the in-game menu, radically redesign the gameplay UI and create a specific control system.

We are not attached to one platform and are constantly developing games for new devices. If technology becomes massive, global, accessible, our games will certainly appear on it.

About the main trends for the next five years

The main trends for the next five years are obvious: the introduction of cloud technologies, the active promotion of streaming, universal tabletization and miniaturization, virtual reality. The mobile games market will continue to grow at a tremendous pace, while mobile devices will become smaller and more powerful, and their value will fall.

Games on mobile platforms are different. The player’s quantum of attention is very small, the game session can end at any time. For developers, it is important to take into account these conditions and adjust to them. At the same time, the industry is moving away from developing games exclusively for the platform. We focus on creating an exciting gaming experience, regardless of the device.