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World of Warships launch coming September 17th; smash a bottle of champagne in its honour

World of Warships

Wargaming never did manage to replicate the success of World of Tanks with World of Warplanes, and that’s fine – it turns out they didn’t need to. This is the more intriguing follow-up, anyway – a competitive game of tactics in which you directly control bobbing boats. World of Warships is quietly brilliant, and out in just a couple of weeks on September 17th.

“Based on our open beta success, Wargaming is poised to launch our next big game,” says Wargaming head of publishing Fred Menou. “With two million participants and the average player spending three hours a day in game we have an armada of sea captains ready to take the helm of the ultimate naval combat game.”

That’s a lot of expert captains already floating around in Wargaming’s exquisitely rendered bodies of water, but you can soon catch up. The actual business of steering a ship is as easy as 1, 2, 3 – or W, W, W to crank up your engine speed, and then Q or E to adjust your rudder. Then you’re away, pointing your mouse at bits of sea, trying to predict where enemy ships are going to be when your shells land.

The current version of the game features four classes of warships, and some historically iconic vessels in its roster of over 80. The US and Japan enjoy full tech trees, while UK, German and USSR ships also make an appearance, with more nations promised for later in the year.

You can download the free client from the World of Warships site. Do you think you might?