Consoles 'lacking in important functionality' for MMOs - Wargaming.net

"Consoles are still lacking in important functionality," which makes them unsuitable for MMOs like World of Tanks, according to developer Wargaming.net. Speaking at the World Of Tanks World Championship final in Moscow, Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Publishing at Wargaming, said that while the console market is "attractive," long approval times for updates mean that companies like Wargaming can't respond to player feedback fast enough in order to maintain a good service.

"Consoles are a nice, attractive part of the market, because there are no really well-known MMOs there, and the install base is huge. But as you know, those consoles are still lacking in important functionality. In MMOs, it's very important for developers to have a fast reaction time for the service. If you're a big company like Sony or Microsoft, then the approval time for release candidates is so, so long--you can't change the game immediately.

Take us [Wargaming.net], as an example. We're not a unique company in that we make mistakes--everybody does it. Sometimes we balance vehicles in an inappropriate way, and we have to listen to feedback from the community. If you see pressure from the player side you have to fix that problem immediately, otherwise they'll leave."

Yarantsau admitted that there were "many other challenges to consider" before a free-to-play MMO like World Of Tanks could ever be released on a console. However, he wasn't entirely dismissive of the idea.

"If Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo can ease the life of developers, then no problem; we'll be there. So far the politics and technology itself is slightly different. It was designed was for retail, and will stay that way for some time; when it changes, we'll be there."

For more on Wargaming.net and World Of Tanks, check out GameSpot Asia's interview with Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi below.