Great news for World of Tanks fans, with Wargaming confirming they are launching a local server for Australian and New Zealand players on November 1, 2017. Finally! With over with 130 million players worldwide the PC community for World of Tanks is nothing to sneeze at, so it's definitely good to see that Wargaming are committed to supporting the local scene.

The only catch is that for some reason the playable hours on the local server will be limited to 6pm to 12am AEDT. Even so Travis Plane, Wargaming Australia New Zealand Country Manager, has high hopes for the prime time server.

"Tankers can now storm the battlefield, roll in guns blazing and ambush their opponents’ quicker, making team combat more intense, fun and enjoyable," he notes. "A local server is the number one request from our community and we are finally rolling them out on November 1, from 6pm – 12am AEDT. It’s a long time coming but we hope that our players and the community can see that we’re truly committed to investing in Australia and New Zealand."
 
And although limiting the time might feel like an oversight, there are plans to expand this next year. "As our player numbers grow and the matchmaking continues to improve, we plan to widen these hours and are aiming for a full-time local server in 2018," said Travis.

To celebrate the launch, Wargaming are hosting Australian and New Zealand player gatherings in Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne. The Auckland event will be held on Friday 20 October, Melbourne on Thursday 26 October ahead of PAX, and Sydney on Wednesday 1 November.

For more info, head here.