For an online game that prides itself on historical accuracy and meticulous detail, 10 years is no small feat – and that’s exactly the anniversary that World of Warships, Wargaming’s flagship naval combat title, is celebrating in 2025.
Over the course of the last 10 years, World of Warships has earned itself a truly dedicated global player base who’ve amassed over 1.2 billion hours of playtime. How has it done that, you ask? By delivering exciting gameplay that brings history to life through a look at real-life naval engagements and more than 800 historically accurate ships. You could say World of Warships is more than just a game – it’s a digital ship museum dedicated to uniting naval and military history enthusiasts alike.
To commemorate this momentous milestone, World of Warships is honoring its past, looking toward the future and giving back to its loyal players. War History Online recently spoke to North America Publishing Director Artur Plociennik about everything that’s in-store.
Marking 10 years of World of Warships
It’s unlikely the team behind World of Warships could have predicted it would become the smash hit it has when it debuted in September 2015. To thank everyone who’s supported them over the last decade, they’ve put together a massive in-game update that will please everyone.
According to Plociennik, they’re “really pulling out a lot of the stops” to give back to the community, which he feels “people will appreciate.” A key part of this is the array of rewards players can receive by just logging in each day. Check out the Daily Login Calendar to earn the likes of coal, supercontainers, premium account access, credits and festival tokens. The tokens can also be collected through Battle Performance Bonuses and redeemed at the Armory for up for 130 supercontainers.
But, wait, that’s not all! There’s also an array of free containers with a variety of rare ships. Among them are the special 10th Anniversary Gift Container, which guarantees players a Tier VI ship, and a Premium Ship VII Container, which can be collected via the 10th-anniversary Event Pass.
Long-time players will also be treated to additional goodies, including the Premium Ship VIII Elite Container (for those who’ve played for over five years and have 25 battles under their belt) and the Premium Ship X Elite Container (for anyone who’s been active over the past decade).
These rewards reflect Wargaming‘s philosophy of rewarding engagement, rather than just payment. Plociennik explains the team is doing “the inverse” of a traditional gaming model, meaning players “can play and then earn some of that real money equivalent that they normally would have to pay [for].”
Blast from the Past and the Decade Dock Port
World of Warships’ 10th anniversary update also introduces a brand-new, limited-time game mode: Blast from the Past. Players should be prepared to take a journey way back to the game’s early days, with the team removing aircraft carriers and submarines to replicate the experience at launch.
The nostalgia continues with the new Decade Dock Port, which Plociennik describes as being filled with “a lot of easter eggs and little snippets from the history of warship development.” For players who’ve been with World of Warships for a long time, these hidden details will “surely evoke a lot of fond memories.”
It’s events like this that get the design team excited, with Plociennik saying that, while they enjoy working on historically accurate blueprints, the task sometimes makes them “really, really bored.” This means they appreciate when they receive “an assignment where they can be creative.” The Decade Dock Port, in particular, is a testament to the passion everyone who makes up the World of Warships team brings to their work, which Plociennik says dedicated players will “really like.”
How does Wargaming balance historical accuracy with gameplay?
Anyone who’s played World of Warships knows that the game’s success lies in its ability to balance historical authenticity and engaging entertainment. As Plociennik explains, a lot of the core audience sees the game as a “museum of warships and naval combat in the first half of the 20th century,” and this requires Wargaming to be mindful of them when trying to appeal to those who “value the entertainment aspect over the historical aspect.”
Thankfully, it’s something World of Warships has been able to navigate well. Whether it be the naval vessels that are regularly introduced (and re-introduced) into the game, such as the USS San Diego (CL-53) during In the Name of Tomorrow event, or how it handled the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, it’s managed to bridge the gap between history and entertainment in a way that’s appreciated by all players.
Frog Fathers 2: Last Battle of the Pacific
On top of marking its 10th anniversary, World of Warships is also celebrating two special releases in 2025. On November 5, it’ll release Frog Fathers 2: Last Battle of the Pacific, a documentary film created in collaboration with FORCE BLUE.
Narrated by John C. McGinley, Frog Fathers 2: Last Battle of the Pacific centers around Rudy Reyes of FORCE BLUE and a team of veteran US Navy SEALs, Marines and Green Berets as they travel to Okinawa to retrace the journeys of those who fought in one of the bloodiest engagements of the Pacific Theater. Simultaneously, the team undertakes a mission to repair a coral reef that still shows the scars of the 1945 invasion.
The aim of the documentary? To honor the history of what occurred on Okinawa.
Naval Museum Atlas
The second big release from World of Warships in 2025? The Naval Museum Atlas, an ongoing initiative created to support and increase the visibility of naval museums across the world.
According to Plociennik, the idea had been in the back of the team’s minds “for many, many years,” thanks to their collaborations with naval museums. But it wasn’t until they attended the Historical Naval Ships Association Conference that they decided it was time to turn it into a reality.
“They don’t function like a company that is set up to promote themselves and really to achieve success at a global scale. They all have their own small kingdoms,” he explains when talking about the museums, adding that World of Warships can provide the modern marketing channels they might not otherwise know how to leverage.
A visit the Naval Museum Atlas shows a map of the world, with naval museums marked across countries. Clicking one brings you to a dedicated page, where you can learn more about the museum and see its operating hours. You can learn about any upcoming events and find out how to purchase tickets – a much easier process than trying to find all this information through the traditional method.
“We care about having them visible to our audience, because our audience is their audience as well, and they care about what’s happening with the museums. And even in terms of their own vacation planning, they care about knowing where they are and having that kind of visibility,” Plociennk continues, sharing that it’s better to have them together “as a topical group,” versus a Google Maps attraction that can get lost among others in a given area.
For World of Warships, the project is a long-term commitment, not a “marketing stunt,” with the team and Wargaming as a whole “committed to this course of action.”
What next for World of Warships?
In addition to the 10th anniversary celebrations, a further update to World of Warships will see a new line of German cruisers enter into Early Access, including the Tier VI heavy cruiser Deutschland and the Tier X heavy cruiser Prinz Adalbert.
And that’s just the beginning. As Plociennek concludes, there’s no end to what the game can do to continue player growth, as there’s still so much to cover across the realms of naval warfare.
“We’re kind of constantly rediscovering the fact that we haven’t tapped out our audience in this particular niche,” he explains, adding the game benefits from the older generations passing on their interest in military history to younger players.
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World of Warships officially turns 10 on September 17, 2025. How will you celebrate the occasion?