This Wednesday, Wargaming invited media from around the country for a day in Sydney to celebrate the launch of World of Tanks on PS4. I found myself alongside several other outlets as we spent the first few hours of the day at Heartbreak Ridge, firing rounds of paintballs at each other while learning that perhaps we shouldn’t give cover based shooters as much flack as they have received in the past. Especially given that I didn’t spend longer than a couple of seconds from out behind anything I could find that was waist-high and solid.

It was then off to to Spawn Point in the center of Sydney, a niche gaming bar with some surprisingly-strong themed concoctions on offer (a chilli-infused ‘Scorpion’ tequila cocktail could certainly cause a Firestorm). There, we were able to sit and enjoy World of Tanks latest release, alongside Jeff Gregg, Lead Game Designer at Wargaming Chicago-Baltimore.

“It’s super exciting.” Jeff admitted, genuinely fired up over the future of World of Tanks on PS4. “It’s always fun to build something from the ground up and then get it out and give birth to a product, but now we get to take all these ecosystems and grow them, which is kind of where the magic happens in free to play.”

World of Tanks has already made a huge splash on PC, as well as successful releases on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, but this is the first time the franchise has come to a Sony console. The key thing the development team wanted to focus on in this latest release was making sure that newcomers weren’t turned away by the amount of detail and options the game now includes.

“A lot of the people that come in, for them World of Tanks is really an overwhelming experience… So, that actually really informed us throughout the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of the game, and what I talked about there – the initial player experience –  is that we need to make sure people understand how to play this game before this game, well to be blunt, makes you its bitch.”

“Those nuts and bolts are really important before you start going wide into these other things. So, that was a big learning experience and part of the initiative that came into our minds, about the same time as the PS4 launch.”

For those unfamiliar with the franchise, or might be playing it for the first time on PS4, Jeff has got the sales pitch down to a fine art.

“Think of World of Tanks like an RPG for tanks. You have classes, like light, medium and heavy, as well as TD and SPG (Tank Destroyer and the artillery). You have different nations which all have general rules on how tanks behave, like the typical American ones will have better holdout, as they believe in just insanely thick turret armor. The Russian tanks have the massive guns… There’s a lot of variance inside those nations so there’s no one tried or true thing but there is enough where you kind of get the gestalt understanding of what that nation’s philosophy was in building tanks.”

Players can decide whether they’d prefer to snipe, take on a full frontal assault or a more supporting role, depending on the tank they choose. And doing so may just teach them a thing or two about the long history of tanks in warfare, with the detail provided in World of Tanks.

“I know more about WW2 and tank military history and technology than I ever knew I wanted to,” Jeff admits, “And it’s because… Well, to honest first I had to, right? It’s gonna be my job! But I think there is an opportunity for people who aren’t into that kind of thing to be like, ‘Well, why did they do this?’ or… Even if I just got destroyed by that other tank, asking ‘Well, why is that tank so much better?'”

With the effort of getting the PS4 version of World of Tanks behind them, the team is now hoping to turn their attention on building the game’s community and working with players to better the game.

“There’s a lot of examples for what the PC does and what other games do – but what is eSports on the console? I don’t really know, what is the right first step? I’m not really sure.”

However, Jeff does know the kind of feeling their aiming for with their focus on community.

“I really like watching Street Fighter tournaments on YouTube and the reason is because you watch the crowd, even though it’s two people fighting. Being like ‘Gahh!’ and you see the guy hit the combo, and then the combo breaker on the other side… It has that ‘Oh my God!’ feeling. I’d love to be able to give that feeling in a social way that keeps people hungry, that keeps people wanting that feeling.”

“I love interacting with people, talking with people. It’s so unique with a free-to-play game as opposed to an on-the-disc shipping game as you can have all this interaction. Now that we’re growing both PSN and XBL systems, it’s really exciting, and that’s where I find a lot of gratification.”

World of Tanks is now available on PlayStation 4 as a free download, and does not require a PlayStation Plus membership to play. All players who log in before the end of January can receive a free T1E6-PS US Premium Light Tank with special camouflage.

Pictured above: A selection of key talented industry personnel, and a tosser kneeling in the corner with his eyes closed.

Rocket Chainsaw’s flights and travel expenses to the World of Tanks PS4 launch were provided by Wargaming and PPR.