Wargaming, the publisher and developer of the top naval combat game World of Warships, are celebrating eight years on the high seas! Marking the occasion, plenty of anniversary content and bonuses have been added to the game.
On top of these festivities, World of Warships sees major improvements and overhauls to graphics and audio in-game since 12.7, and now the addition of Airship Escort, Random Battles and a fleet of Spanish cruisers leaving Early Access. This update also welcomes Arpeggio of Blue Steel -Ars Nova- back to the game, four new Brawls to get in on and continued construction of a Tier X destroyer in the Dockyard.
All aboard for the eight anniversary of Warships
Celebrating eight years since the launch of World of Warships, Update 12.8 is ready to get the party started. Kicking off 14 September, players can unlock a number of rewards in the form of battle performance bonuses and festive tokens. These tokens can be redeemed for the player’s choice of reward, which include camouflages, discounts for Tier VIII ships, the French Tier VIII cruiser Bayard, Containers and Super Containers, as well as a host of common, special and rare economic bonuses.
Birthday celebrations don’t stop there though, Warships welcomes Tier IX European battleship Karl XIV Johan to the game! Alongside this new ship comes a designated permanent camouflage, three Commanders each with a unique voice over, and of course, its own flag and a patch.
Airship Escort makes its way to Random Battles
After two previous iterations as a distinct Battle Mode, a new and improved Airship Escort drops into Random Battles to change up combat. Available in 12-on-12 formats for ships of all classes spanning Tier VII to Superships, players will guide their allied airship along a fixed route, beating the rival team to the destination or destroying their convoy in order to claim the win. This overhauled version of this mode sees updated routes and spawn points changed across a number of maps, a number of new indicators for airship speed and location, and new rewards in the Random Battles economy.
Graphics Updates
Since the Update 12.7, World of Warships has upgraded with major improvements for its graphics and audio. High-detail textures have been incorporated across several maps, including New Dawn, Polar, and Islands maps. This hyperrealism extends into water, which welcomes improved animations for the waves that splash onto ships, and better splash quality. Animals also get improvements, as well as an increase in numbers, with more fish, birds, dolphins and sharks appearing across maps. Several islands see improved collision models, preventing passing ships from coming into contact.
Beyond these environmental updates are improved combat effects of both graphic and audio varieties. Shots fired from main, secondary battery and AA guns, alongside explosions welcome improved effects that vary by the target ship’s speed and the shell’s calibre. This impact is accompanied by improved audio to mimic the effect of combat from a distance. On top of this, the soundscape of Warships adapts to the battle situation, ranging from battle sounds during battle with enemy ships to ambient sounds emanating during the calmer moments of combat.
Spanish Cruisers and Arpeggio of Blue Steel -Ars Nova- returns
Closing out this update’s brand new content, Spanish cruisers leave Early Access becoming available to all players, and Arpeggio of Blue Steel -Ars Nova- comes back to Warships’ waters to face off against the Fleet of Fog once more. 12.8 also welcomes four new Brawls that take place with their own unique division formats, and sees the continued construction of Tier X Pan-Asian destroyer Lüshun in the Dockyard. This update also brings a number of bug fixes, upgrades and balance changes across the game.
