World of Warships Launches Sept. 17, Adds Ranked Season Play

Wargaming is taking World of Warships out of drydock, dropping the "beta" tag and officially launching its naval battler World of Warships on Sept. 17.

The launch coincides with the first season of ranked play, also starting on the 17th, which will let captains go against each other in 7-on-7 domination battles for glory and bonus rewards. In addition, the premium ship Tirpitz will be added to the shop, making it the first torpedo-armed battleship in the game. Wargaming boasts of having two million registered players for World of Warships, with the average player spending three hours per day in the game. And that's just in their first battle! /sarcasm

The team also put out a dev diary video earlier this week talking about the World of Warships game engine, which reveals some interesting facts about the core of the game. Don't take those water effects for granted -- "The engine was designed for elves," says Technical Director Andrey Oleynik, "and elves didn't have an ocean." Well, not those forest-loving, tree-hugging elves, sure...