World of Warplanes Takes Off Sept. 25-26

Wargaming's finally ready to pull the beta plug on World of Warplanes, launching the game in its full glory late next month. The Belarus-based developer will launch the game on Sept. 26 in North America and Europe and a day earlier for gamers in the Commonwealth of Independent States, a.k.a., the former Soviet Union.

A press release accompanying the news states that over three million players participated in the beta, amassing 202 million combat missions. Said Development Director Oleg Gotynyan:

“We are extremely thankful for the feedback and data our testers provided to us through both Closed and Open Beta. They contributed a great deal to the process of helping scale the game, and we expect it to offer a deep and polished experience to both MMO fans and flight combat enthusiasts alike.”

Unlike World of Tanks, World of Warplanes has some feisty competition in the form of Gaijin Entertainment's War Thunder, which also offers WWII-style aviation antics. I've played both and while I like the overall polish of WoWP, as well as the feedback, better, War Thunder's got the advantage, at least in my mind, in controls and just a general "fun factor."

The open beta for World of Warplanes is still going on, so check it out if you're still on the fence!