How Wargaming enlisted 160 million World of Tanks players over a decade

If you’re like me, you’ve lost track of time during the lockdown. I’ve been playing games and detaching from reality when necessary. That’s why I was surprised to learn that Wargaming is celebrating the 10th anniversary of World of Tanks this year. How time flies! It feels like World of Tanks has been around for what seems like most of our online lives.

During the pandemic, World of Tanks has seen a surge, and Wargaming has done its best to make us fall in love with massive online tank battles from the World War II era all over again, staging in-game events that have lasted for weeks. And August 12 was the big day. I interviewed Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi about the anniversary and how the company labored for years before coming upon the right free-to-play game. It’s racked up more than 160 million registered players in the past 10 years.