BigWorld Game Technology Powering World of Tanks at E3 2011

Austin, TX – June 7, 2011 – BigWorld (www.bigworldtech.com), a global leader in middleware game technology, develops the driving technology behind Wargaming.net’s World of Tanks MMO. The game will be showcased at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), along with some other BigWorld powered titles. Built on BigWorld technology, World of Tanks (www.worldoftanks.com) is a free-to-play tank combat MMO developed by Wargaming.net in Belarus. Since the start of beta, the game has garnered critical acclaim and set a Guinness record for the most number of concurrent users on a gaming server at once. It has since followed a rapid upward trajectory, with major expansions from Russia into China, Western Europe, and North America.

“BigWorld technology has been a perfect fit for World of Tanks, as our user base grows rapidly the technology is able to adapt and grow with our needs,” said Wargaming.net CEO, Victor Kislyi.  “We look forward to a long relationship with BigWorld on our current and future projects.”

World of Tanks currently has gained over three million registered users in a short period of time, and was awarded Best Game of 2011 at The Game Developers Conference in Russia. Last year, Wargaming.net took home Massively’s Best of E3 award for best concept, and they plan to continue the trend at this year’s expo with a massive gaming zone at Booth 423 of the South Hall. Visitors will be invited to engage in the open tournament that will run throughout the three days of E3. A few very large surprises, as well, are in store for attendees.

Other BigWorld powered titles being showcased at E3 include Realm of the Titans (Aeria Games), an isometric strategy role playing game inspired by the immensely popular Defense of the Ancients Warcraft III scenario. VIE (enVie), a role playing fantasy virtual world, is currently in development in California. Curt Shilling’s 38 studios in Rhode Island are licensing BigWorld, as well, for a stealth project in development.

E3 2010: Where are the MMO’s?

E3 2010 is in full swing right now, and while the big consoles have all had their big day in the spotlight, I still feel like there is something missing at the event: a big MMO release. Sure, we had news of the Warhammer 40k MMO, but if that’s as well received by its audience as WAR was, then it is almost worth ignoring the announcement.

So far the most exciting MMO news in my opinion is Lego Universe (which can’t possibly be as fun as I hope it will be), and more on the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, which I know won’t be as fun as the trailers and FMV’s made it look.

I expected that we would see more MMO’s out this year, but it looks like game developers are moving more and more towards more traditional games, and just bumping up their profit by creating expansions, DLC or “new versions”. Many of the games coming out in the next two years seem to be new versions of old games, or refreshes of old IP.

I haven’t been very impressed with the games that are coming out, but I have to admit, the new announcements for the consoles all looked pretty good.