Video game company Wargaming is well known for its F2P military titles, namely its World of series, comprising tanks, planes, and, here—warships. Against the backdrop of realism, Wargaming is partnering with popular Asian animation and gaming IP to entice fans familiar with the more moe side of warfare. In this interview with Wargaming’s Shunyang Huang, Head of Licensing, APAC and Country Lead, Japan Publishing, Huang explores the fun and fusion of Azur Lane with World of Warships in their now seventh collaboration.
Bio: Shunyang Huang is the Head of Licensing APAC and Country Lead Japan at Wargaming Product Group Publishing APAC. He is managing APAC IP projects with strong soft skills to stakeholders and local partners, and has successfully delivered licensing projects so far.
Q: Why are cute girls in military settings such a timeless combo?
Huang: There tends to be a cultural stereotype that military-themed entertainment is exclusively for men. I feel that Azur Lane challenges that expectation, and opens up opportunities for creative, out-of-the-box thinking–not just on how to incorporate the characters, but to integrate a different art style into the game.
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Q: That intersection (of cute girls in military settings) is often baked into an anime/game’s setting from the very start. Given the real-life historical aspect of WoW, what led you to think that this collaboration would work?
Huang: Blending Azur Lane, a side-scrolling shoot’em up RPG game, with a historically accurate, realistic MMO like World of Warships, might not seem like an immediate connection. This makes it a unique crossover as, rather than focusing on the two games’ differences, we’ve focused on the shared elements of warships and naval combat and incorporated the characters from Azur Lane to create a special collaboration for players to enjoy.
Q: How did this collaboration formally go from conception to production?
Huang: The characters in Azur Lane already represent specific ships, like Hindenburg, which is a German cruiser that is also available in World of Warships. So on a conceptual level, we’ve designed each ship in the game to reflect its Azur Lane counterpart, taking into account their color palettes, unique style, and personality. The trailer we created for the collaboration also showcases the different characters alongside their ships for the community to see.
Q: Were there any doubts or extra convincing necessary on either side?
Huang: The team at Azur Lane has been amazing to work with, and we have a great understanding of each other’s creative visions. Collaborating with them is a very open process, where we get to discuss our ideas together and create a special end result.
Q: What steps go into ensuring Azur Lane‘s characters shine and the experience remains fun when integrating them into WoW?
Huang: When bringing Azur Lane to World of Warships, we’ve tried to select characters that can be adapted into the game while remaining instantly recognizable. As mentioned earlier about the concept, this includes looking at their character design and personalities to see how they can be translated from anime to highly realistic ship models and provide engaging combat experiences.
Q: Could you introduce this seventh collaboration and all the cool things fans can get up to?
Huang: We’ve launched four new ships and five themed Commanders for players in this wave. Adding new Commander characters has been such a big part of our collaboration process with Azur Lane, and with these new additions, it marks 39 characters available in the game. We’ve also brought back fan-favorite ship-girls to the game, with their own permanent camouflages and Containers. Personally, I can’t wait for players to see Hindenburg, as the skin animation is one of my favourites from this collection.
Q: How have these frequent collaborations, not just here, but also things like World of Tanks [also by Wargaming] and Girls und Panzer, helped refine the approach in creating these experiences?
Huang: We want to incorporate community feedback when creating new content and collaborating with other brands and make a point of collecting their opinions on the ships and characters they’d like to see in-game in order to provide the best crossovers possible. We’ve definitely seen this with Azur Lane, and players have shared which characters they want to see in-game.
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Q: Given you’ve worked with Azur Lane multiple times, what has the feedback been for this latest wave?
Huang: Our community has been very receptive to our collaborations with Azur Lane, and the latest wave has been well-received. As our communities have a lot of crossover, we’ve provided new opportunities for fans of both games to enjoy the brands together.
Q: Who/What’s the inclusion you’re personally most excited about?
Huang: Each Azur Lane character and ship is unique to me. It is very hard to choose, but if I have to pick one from this wave, my personal favourite is the skin animation for Hindenburg, and I hope the players enjoy it!
Q: How have these collaborations been great for those who may have been fans of Warships but not Azur Lane, and vice versa?
Huang: I think the players, regardless of whether or not they’re fans of Azur Lane, find it interesting to see how characters can be depicted—either as anime characters or as ships in-game. It also gives fans of Azur Lane, who may be new to World of Warships, an understanding of what the historically accurate versions of these ships look like.
Q: Are there any other Japanese IPs you’re currently working on partnering with, or would love to work with?
Huang: So far, it’s too early to tell, so my suggestion would be to keep your eyes and ears out for the next news! And we’re always looking to see what our community is interested in!
Many thanks to Huang for the interview opportunity. You can check out the latest World of Warships Update 14.4 below, including Azur Lane, the Perilous Route, and the Dunkirk 1940 Strategic Event for new challenges and rewards.
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