Tanki Online Gamescom Preview

Tanki Online doesn’t have any big boots to fill, rather, a shoe shop to try and infiltrate. With the popularity of World of Tanks and War Thunder, you’d wonder if there was any more space for a tank combat game. Well, at the time of writing there are 83,409 players online and every refresh brings a higher number. Tanki, then, is not just a small game trying to play with the big boys but in fact a contender looking for that moment that pushes it into the mainstream.

Its popularity at the moment lays mostly in the eastern european market but that’s set to change when the proposed modifications move in. At the moment the game is a flash version that can be played straight from the browser but I was privy to a new version of the game. A new Unity version is in the works and allows for a lot of improvements.

The new engine accommodates brand new animations on all the tanks and special abilities. There is also a new UI layout giving better use and understanding for all users. While at face value these may seem small, the team is hoping they will all add up to a much more user friendly experience. This is all without the obvious graphical upgrade a newer engine brings.

While staying decidedly Tanki, the new version is also set to be more stable and introduce a platform for a whole universe of potential games. This is what was made clear in my short viewing. Tanki isn’t going to stay ‘the other online tank game’, the creators are looking at long term possible multi-platform releases.

I was told that the idea was to be able to have Tanki not only be a new experience on PC, but to bring it other players everywhere. How about the possibility of an integrated FB app as well? What about being able to play on your tablet with someone on PC? Well that’s what is being aimed at.

With its already very arcadey feel, and more deathmatch type gameplay, it’s stepping away from the pack to define itself as something more fun and easy to play. Simply; instead of competing head on with its closest rivals, Tanki is rewriting the rule book.