This morning, Wargaming is excited to reveal World of Tanks: Mercenaries, the largest expansion of single-player and multiplayer World of Tanks content since its launch on consoles in 2014. This ambitious update will hit Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PS4 on June 26. Check out the hot new reveal trailer above!
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When World of Tanks launched on Xbox 360 back in 2014, players were blown away by the sheer variety of armor. Over 100 tanks were available to choose from, and players could deploy across a handful of maps. Now, with the launch of Mercenaries, players on consoles will have over 680 tanks to unlock and control, and your adventures will unfold across more than 90 unique maps.
Many of you are already familiar with World of Tanks‘ fantastic War Stories, which offer the perfect respite from the flagship 15-versus-15 team team-based multiplayer. With Mercenaries, you’ll be introduced to an entirely new chapter of unique story content, rooted in an alternative historic timeline where World War II never ended.
Traditional alliances have all but dissolved, and in World of Tanks: Mercenaries, mercenary units are the dangerous hidden hand shaping the outcomes of the world’s most formative battles and confrontations. You will push through a gripping new PvE story campaign dubbed “The Heist,” which follows a mysterious crew of mercenaries in their mission to steal coveted nuclear supplies. Their mission will make them enemies to the U.S. military as well as the Soviets.
These mercenaries all have different nationalities; different motives; different skills. They do not fight under a wave flag. They fight under a signed contract, and make no mistake, they are just as deadly as any army. The mercenaries will make up their own “nation” of sorts, offering players a wholly unique tech tree of tanks, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Trust me, these are the most imaginative tanks you’ve ever driven, and they’re definitely not historically accurate.
Wargaming was kind enough to invite us out to the Museum of American Armor in New York to ride in some impressive armored vehicles. On one hand, we were offered a once-in-a-lifetime experience which illuminated what it was like to operate these real WWII-era vehicles during wartime, and that experience was contrasted brilliantly as we plunged into this alternative-history of Mercenaries to see these “Frankenstein’s monster” tanks in-game.
You guys are going to love this new tech tree. Wargaming’s Communication Director Ingo Horn told me what I already knew: World of Tanks players on PC are much more focused on the historical accuracy of each model. They know where every screw should be and what every tank should sound like, and that in-game recreation is what excites them. Console players are looking for more customization and more thrills, and you guys will get them in spades.
In the spirit of Mercenaries, just as each crew is comprised of disparate fighters with unique talents, your new tanks are basically built out of scraps and parts of different tanks to create something completely new. You’ll see small and agile tanks that pack a massive punch, and well armored vehicles with impressive rates of fire. There will be five new tanks to unlock and play with when the update goes live on June 26, and each is uniquely suited to the mercenaries’ specific needs.
This, by the way, would be the perfect time to invite a friend to download World of Tanks and join you as you begin The Heist. Wargaming prides itself on its implementation of player feedback, and one thing they were hearing from players is that they needed more challenging single-player missions from the War Stories. I’ll tell you from personal experience that the difficulty has been cranked up considerably.
Don’t expect to go charging barrel-first into every enemy tank you see without considerable resistance. You will need to find cover; you will have to mark targets for you AI allies to attack; you will need a friend watching your six at all times. This stuff is absolutely free, so get a friend on-board and secure those nuclear materials together.
Fore more information about World of Tanks: Mercenaries, you can check out the official site here. No matter where you’re playing, you can expect an optimized experience — from the Xbox 360 to the PS4 Pro and Xbox One. It’s beautiful, it’s explosive, it’s free, and it’s still expanding. Wargaming has big plans for the future of World of Tanks: Mercenaries, so don’t miss it when it drops on June 26.
