World of Tanks is a game about tanks. As such, it seems safe to assume that its players like tanks. Maybe they even like tanks enough to want to be a tank; or at least experience the virtual reality approximation of being a tank. According to Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi, that could happen, but only if the numbers add up. In an interview with CVG , the World of Tanks boss said that, while he's interested in the tech, the Oculus Rift would need to sell around 5-10 million units to justify native support. It's worth watching the interview not just for the Oculus discussion, but also to hear Kislyi use the phrase "magicians of experience".
Talking about the percentage of free-to-play players who spend money, Kislyi estimated the number of people they'd need to make supporting a new platform worthwhile. "A million is not enough," he said, later adding, "we have to have a certain number of players who pay, from time to time, a little money. So ten million, five million is a good user base. If Xbox One or Oculus Rift reach those numbers, we're there."
To be clear, Kislyi isn't talking about Oculus support being added to the existing PC version of World of Tanks, but instead a separate Oculus version developed exclusively for VR. For that to be viable, the game would need the chance of securing a big enough audience to make a free-to-play profit viable. It's the reason Kislyi mentions Xbox One in the same breath. While the Xbox 360 easily surpasses the magic 5-10 million barrier, the Xbox One currently does not.
