World Of Tanks' 2019: Changes To Premium Ammo/Accounts, Matchmaking, Return Of Frontline, And More

2018 was a big year for World of Tanks. Wargaming implemented a new graphics and audio engine for the game and, uh, did a lot of other things. Apparently, that included celebrating the "10th anniversary of the idea of World of Tanks," which is about as weird as it gets.

For 2019, there's even more planned, and Wargaming laid it out in great detail in a blog post over the weekend. While there's nothing quite as momentous as a new engine, there are a few things that should have veteran tankers jumping for joy -- if tankers jump, that is. They probably rumble instead.

Leading the list is "Premium Ammo Rebalancing," which is singled out as "one of the hottest topics in World of Tanks," code for "the thing that causes most people to call the game pay-to-win." It's being renamed as "special ammo," with all such rounds having their damage reduced by 25-30%. Overall, standard AP shells will be the most effective in all but a few situations, thus theoretically making special ammo less attractive as a primary choice.

2019 is outlined as a "big year for the matchmaker," which will certainly perfect it so nobody ever has any complaints ever again about matchmaking in this PvP game. (Spoiler: They will.) The big-huge Frontline mode will make a return early in 2019, being available for one week every month and with more levels and rewards, and Premium accounts will see "comprehensive" changes, with the goal of making them "more profitable and, most important, convenient for everyone."

Finally, there will be new ranked battles, Clan Wars, new vehicles, rebalancing of older vehicles, new customization styles, the "Bond Shop" as a revamp of the in-game store, as well as a few other tidbits revealed in the following teaser video: