The Americans are getting the Cachalot (Tier VI), the Salmon (Tier VIII) and the Balao (Tier X), the Germans will have the U-69 (Tier VI), the U-190 (Tier VIII) and the U-2501 (Tier X), while the Soviets will get the S-1 (Tier VI), the L-20 (Tier VIII) and the K1 (Tier X). Testing the WatersThe first three nations in World of Warships to receive the submarine class will be the United States, Germany and the USSR. “And both groups had fun, ultimately,” says Plociennik. The casual players on the other hand, just went headlong into full ramming speed. The hardcore players, the ones more versed in the role that submarines played in early 20th century naval combat operations, were fussy with resource management and didn’t rush too close to enemies, preferring to utilise stealth as much as possible.

“According to Plociennik, the limited time Halloween submarines event was a success with both halves of the World of Warships audience. Buoyed by the success of 2018’s Halloween event, Terror of the Deep, which saw submarines introduced for a limited time in a PvE scenario mode, and backed up by the raw metrics that proved just how engaged the audience was with the new submersible vessels, Lesta Studio is confident that the time is right for submarines to become the fifth class in World of Warships. (“Some of them actually hit their targets, and some of them actually sank their targets as well,” jokes global executive producer Artur Plociennik.)This obsession with data and statistical analysis is why, despite the protests of a small but vocal crowd on the World of Warships official forum and subreddit, Lesta Studio is set to launch submarines into the game late in 2019.

In the four years since it first exited its open beta harbour and entered the waters of full release, the free-to-play World of Warships has accumulated over 30 million registered users, with a combined total of over 130 million ships acquired, more than 180 billion in-game kilometres travelled, and some 612 billion shots fired. Like the greatest naval commanders throughout history, World of Warships developer Lesta Studio is all about the numbers.

World of warships submarine mode