Wargaming Recruits Horror Game Veterans For Spooky World Of Tanks Halloween Event

World of Tanks already had a frightening limited-time game mode earlier this month, but with Halloween right around the corner, why not have another? Celebrated as "the biggest Halloween event in its 10-year history," Mirny-13 is a PvE co-op event that runs from Oct. 26 to Nov. 9 and has tankers investigating a town that's under the spell of a mysterious shadowy power.

Players will have access to Tier IX tanks made specially for this event, braving four changing worlds in an attempt to unlock the mysteries of Mirny-13. The content comes in a number of phases, each more difficult than the last. After destroying an enemy, an anomaly might spawn, boosting your tank's capabilities. Your enemies will include conventional tanks, as well as the bizarre rolling Hedgehog, and the Immortal, which you can defeat by ... well, you can't. That's why it has the name "Immortal."

To present the proper ambience for the event Wargaming has enlisted two of the creators responsible for the haunting atmosphere of the Silent Hill series: Art Director and Monster Designer Masahiro Ito and Composer Akira Yamaoka. Wargaming also had a brief Q&A with Yamaoka, currently the sound director at Supertrick Games Inc., to discuss his role in crafting the sound for the update:

Wargaming: You have been cooperating with World of Tanks since 2017, what attracts you to the game?

Akira Yamaoka: I really admire how Tanks are presented in the World of Tanks universe. The game has captured a unique feeling by paying close attention to the historical details, which is usually quite hard to do. I think the World of Tanks development team has done a great job in capturing this while continuing to make the game bigger and better.

WG: Do you play World of Tanks? If so, what are your favorite nations, tanks?

AY: Japanese Tier 5 Chi-Nu Kai is my favorite. Not that it’s super strong but as a Japanese, I really love the design of this tank.

WG: How do you assess the overall music in World of Tanks?

AY: It’s just amazing. The sound designers work together so well. They are high-level expertise and it just makes me want to join the team!

WG: What was your inspiration for creating the track for the Halloween event in World of Tanks?

AY: I already had the STEM (sound clips), which I got from the World of Tanks sound design team. I got most of the inspiration from there. It’s like cooking, you have a bunch of ingredients and you use that to cook. Using existing files to create music, not like a remix but a different way to create music.

WG: Tell us about your participation in composing the track for the new event?

AY: I’ve worked with World of Tanks on a different project before, so that’s why ended up working together again. I am excited to be part of this new World of Tanks, connected through music!

WG: Did you use any special techniques or instruments when composing the track?

AY: This time we already had the STEM files, so it was like doing a remix. I tried to leverage the existing files and balance them out. For example, we tried to think what would be the best sound when playing this mode.

WG: Did COVID influence the degree of interaction with the tank team?

AY: It was a bit disappointing not being able to visit Minsk for sure, although we did not have any issues with communicating online. Since we worked together last time, too much communication wasn’t quite necessary.

WG: Tell us about the mode itself, did you manage to convey the atmosphere of horror?

AY: It really gives you a realistic experience. It’s not SF but it adds a new dimension to World of Tanks universe. At the beginning of production, I was told that the music I made was a little too spooky (haha), so I tried to focus on making it sound unique rather than scary.

WG: Tell us about your current plans?

AY: I’ll let you know ;)