World of Warplanes developer Wargaming.net launched the dogfighting game's open beta today in North America and Russia, with a European launch to follow July 4, the studio announced today.
Wargaming.net had been running a closed beta since the end of May 2012. The company said today that players who participated in the closed beta will receive "special prizes."
The open beta offers fighter planes from the 1930s to the early 1950s across four countries of origin: the U.S., the U.S.S.R., Germany and Japan. Beta testers can partake in 15-on-15 PvP matches. If that sounds intimidating, Wargaming.net also designed a new tutorial for the open beta to help players understand what's going on.
Later in the open beta period, Wargaming.net will launch its Unified Premium Account, allowing players to hold one account (with one set of premium in-game currency) across World of Tanks and World of Warplanes.
"We thank every single World of Warplanes player out there, whether they're just getting into the game during open beta or have been with us since the very start," said Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net, in a press release today.
Interested parties can head to the World of Warplanes website to sign up for the open beta, although as of this writing, the site is down for maintenance. Six screenshots from World of Warplanes are available above.
