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

In 2012, the popular game World of Tanks brought $ 218 million to Wargaming . In 2014, its revenue exceeded $ 500 million.

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

The sources of income, marketing, current trends and many other things correspondents of "Vedomosti" talked with Victor Kisly, the head of the company.
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"Megamind" leads the most interesting quotes from the interview .

About entering foreign markets

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

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

For example, in Japan there are few computers, the Japanese are playing mostly on the Play Station. But if the Japanese love some game, then he will not climb out of it. And this is the most paying audience. But in terms of quantity, they are few when compared with other countries.

Now we have an audience of the game distributed approximately 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 are still moving towards an increase in 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's revenue is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. It is clear that due to the fall of the Russian ruble, our dollar earnings, to put it mildly, did not grow.
But other factors, not necessarily macroeconomic, may also affect 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 badly drawn there.

About marketing tools and advertising revenue

It is difficult 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.

It is still taking its first steps, but it is developing very rapidly along with the development of new technologies, mobile devices. Because people basically watch these things on smartphones and tablets.

About leaving from the Cyprus stock exchange and the Cyprus crisis

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

Wargaming is the largest technology company in Cyprus, we are actively involved in the economic and social life of the country, and therefore the last 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 is the case with the purchase of Hellenic 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 frame migration

As far as I know, we began to receive slightly more responses to vacancies from programmers from Russia, but we should take into account the fact that Minsk, like Kiev and St. Petersburg, has a worthy reputation as an expert center in game development. Wargaming has become a HR brand, so 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 drastically 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. By the way, the introduction of technology has proven to be a very laborious process. We needed to rebuild the in-game menu, radically alter the gameplay UI and create a specific management system.

We are not tied to one platform and are constantly developing games for new devices. If the technology becomes mass, global, affordable, our games will definitely 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 market of mobile games 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. A player’s attention span is quite small; a game session can end at any time. For developers, it is important to consider these conditions and adapt 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.