World of Tanks, the free-to-play mechanized team deathmatch game, has seen a ton of success. How much? Enough to place its developer’s CEO on a list of game industry billionaires.
According to a Bloomberg feature, the game’s developer, Wargaming Pcl, is now valued at $1.5 billion dollars, leaving their CEO, 39-year-old Victor Kislyi, a net worth of $1 billion.
The company boasts 150 million users around the world, and reported a revenue of $590 million in 2015. It’s got offices on four continents employing over 4,000 people. Despite the success of the company, Kislyi says he keeps a ”very modest” lifestyle, though if I were in his position, I’d consider at least buying one actual tank.
The explosive rise of both esports and free-to-play gaming has given games like World of Tanks a tremendous avenue for success, and games like it will almost certainly continue to grow. Kislyi is now in the company of gaming billionaires like Minecraft creator Markus Persson and Steam magnate Gabe Newell, along with a lengthy list of social and mobile execs.
