Arlette E. Resendiz (girl in picture on tank)
Player Experience Specialist - World of Tanks XBOX 360 Edition
The game came out this year – how success was the launch and the ongoing growth with plays?
It’s been a few months since the release of World of Tanks XBOX 360 Edition and the excitement hasn’t stopped. This is great news considering the Free-To-Play market in a console is still new. The game is being played in 86 countries and with a market that extensive, it inspires the development team to continue providing new and up to date content in a monthly basis to keep our hungry tankers satisfied.
New content is important to keep gamers engaged. What we want is for players to realize is that the game is constantly evolving and being updated. World of Tanks XBOX 360 Edition has changed quite a bit since we launched. It is an ongoing process we would most definitely like to maintain. We are not stopping.
Do you think that many PC players have moved over the Xbox – due to its location in the living room with the big TV?
Not necessarily, the console community is made of hardcore multiplayer gamers that enjoy the ability to hop on and share gaming experiences with their friends. The XBOX 360 is a versatile and social engaging console and we are definitely taking advantage of all its qualities by embracing the social aspect, and combining it with a great balanced tank experience.
Would you say it’s the same audience as the PC gamers or straight console guys that play the 360m version more?
PC and console gamers come from different backgrounds and have different needs. World of Tanks PC and World of Tanks XBOX 360 are different titles as World of Tanks XBOX360 was built from the ground up. We do have World of Tanks PC veterans playing the 360 version and so far they enjoy both games and embrace the differences. We also have our newcomers that never played the PC version and joined the 360 community of tankers.
Recently you announced new updates can you go through these and what they do?
Yes, our goal is to continue to provide monthly updates with new content to keep the game fun, engaging, new and exciting. It’s like opening a present every month! We will have new tanks, new maps, and new modes, along with the introduction of 7 member platoon, which gives players the ability to start 7-player platoons. This was a huge request from our community. We are also working on the further expansion of the US and German lines, including the addition of “autoloaders”. Our online community has already expressed their excitement with these new additions and we cannot wait.
The weather effects does this have effect on the game or is it all show?
The introduction of weather and day variant maps exclusive to World of Tanks XBOX 360 opened a lot of doors; not only for a more visually pleasing experience, but for future ideas we would like to work in game on future updates.
Will you add snow and rain that has effect – have the players asked for this? Many or few..
Introducing weather and day variants in a map that a gamer has played in several times can change the tactics. Some of our tankers have expressed feeling lost in a map they played before because the landscape is not the same. This of course is a good thing as we want them to give them a variety of alternatives to continue to offer an innovative and fun experience.
Night time maps that’s sounds great will it feel like a war zone with lots of smoke and fire?
The development team has worked on these maps for months and they continue to enhance the experience by adding fire, trees, and objects that will create a melancholy atmosphere. We want our gamers to feel they are in the middle of the battlefield. Battles were fought at different times of day, on diverse landscapes with climate conditions and we want to honor those historically aspects in game.
Who leads the ideas for new and updates features? producer or development? Or even players might have a go. If its players do offer ideas how does that work?
As mentioned before, our World of Tanks XBOX 360 community is very vocal and do share all of their comments and suggestions. We take their feedback very seriously and every time they suggest changes that are related to any aspect of the game, we right away pass the information to the development team for consideration.
Can you explain the platoon update works? Will include the 15 vs 15 or 7 vs 7 only maps?
The platoon update with come with its own platoon interface. Using the XBOX interface, players will be able to invite their friends to join the platoon. One of the improvements in the platoon system allows platoon-members to create teams that are balanced. This also improves the platoon matchmaking potential and makes everyone (even people playing solo) have a fairer, more balanced experienced. 7 person platoons will still play in 15 v 15 games so they'll be on the 15 v 15 maps. After setting up your platoon, you will see some new additional useful information in battle queue. Not only do you see new tanks waiting in the queue, you see the range that you will fight indicated by grey brackets. This will let your whole platoon see how many platoon-members are waiting for battle within your range. This matchmaking system will make it simple by allowing the grouping of large platoons playing together/against each other. For example: 2 platoons of 7 (14 players) VS 3 platoons of 5 (15 players). World of Tanks XBOX 360 does not have a 7v7 mode and shouldn't be compared to pc's 7v7.
Why do you think players will love this feature?
Personally, because I feel the same way they do, we want to play with our friends.
Finally – can you outline new features coming or is that still under wraps?
It is still under wraps! We will notify everyone regarding future updates when the time comes! For now, we want you to join us in the battlefield! ROLL OUT!
