World of Tanks developer opens UK studio, is working on an unannounced free-to-play game targeting fans of Fortnite, Overwatch and League of Legends

World of Tanks developer/publisher Wargaming has opened a UK office and is growing its team to work on a brand new free-to-play game.

The Wargaming UK studio in Guildford is staffed by a veteran team who are developing a fresh new IP, which has now been in the works for over a year.

Its main game, World of Tanks, is a 7v7 shooter with its own esports scene that first launched back in 2010. While it’s popular in former Soviet Union nations, as well as the likes of Germany and Poland, Wargaming say that there’s room for them to expand in the Western Market, across the US and Europe.

To do this, they are going after fans of games like Overwatch, Fortnite and League of Legends.

Wargaming UK studio director Sean Decker told GamesIndustry.biz: “World of Tanks was targeting something that was very familiar to people who grew up in ex-Soviet Union, CIS, Eastern Europe. A lot of citites and towns in Eastern Europe and CIS have a tank in their town square and a monument to World War II. People grew up with that.

Wargaming UK’s studio has around 60 people right now and Sean wants to double this over the next year. Wargaming UK is currently hiring for more than 20 positions.

While the new game is unannounced and it is currently unknown what genre it will fall into, one of the job listings is for a vehicle artist, which mentions that the title will be ‘the next big free-to-play title from Wargaming’, implying it won’t be a full-price game release.

A UK launch event also saw the studio host a 48 hour game jam, which pitted teams against each other – vying for the top spot in the eyes of the experienced panel of judges.

Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi said: “For Wargaming, the UK studio is a really exciting step in our expansion – and we are looking forward to releasing information on their new project. It is going to be big.

“It was a pleasure to celebrate with the team, and we are looking forward to watching them create something special.”

Overall, Wargaming employs some 4,500 employees across 18 locations.

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.