World of Warplanes Goes Live

After a long beta and delayed launch date, Wargaming is finally ready to take off with World of Warplanes. The WWII-era combat flight sim is the second in Wargaming's planned three-tier assault on combat fans, joining World of Tanks and the upcoming World of Warships.

Players have over 100 planes, fulfilling a variety of roles, spanning five nations -- U.S., USSR, Germany, Great Britain, and Japan -- to choose from. In addition, Wargaming is officially rolling out its Unified Premium Account system for its games, linking Warplanes and Tanks, allowing players to share their premium currency, Gold, between accounts.

Finally, if you're a competitive player, you can participate in the First to the Top promotion, which will reward players with Premium ("subscription") time for unlocking tier V and up airplanes over the game's first two weeks. The first player to unlock the highest level, a tier X plane, will receive a whole decade of premium time!

So are you planning to jump into World of Warplanes? What's your nation of choice? And do you think you'll take a shot at the First to the Top prizes?