Wargaming.net, the award-winning videogame developer and publisher, announced today that the closed beta testing stage for the company’s highly anticipated flight combat MMO World of Warplanes will take off on May 31 this year.

Since its global alpha launch on February 23, World of Warplanes has secured more than 600,000 invite requests, with 100,000 received within the first 24 hours. Thousands of players have been granted access to World of Warplanes alpha version, and the army of test pilots will be increased drastically once the game enters closed beta.

"We are happy to announce the next big day for World of Warplanes," said Alex Zezulin, Project Manager for World of Warplanes. "Thanks to our alpha testers, the game looks better and better every day, and we hope beta test participants will contribute as much to World of Warplanes development."

World of Warplanes is the flight combat MMO action game set in the Golden Age of military aviation. The game continues the armored warfare theme marked in the highly-acclaimed World of Tanks and will throw players into a never-ending tussle for air dominance.

World of Warplanes will allow players to build full-scale careers as virtual pilots offering machines from several key eras, from1930’s biplanes to the Korean War jet fighters that led the way to modern air forces.

World of Warplanes will feature a wide range of warbirds, each of them unique in their effectiveness and behavior. Virtual pilots will choose from three main warplane classes – single-engine light fighters capable of engaging enemies in close dogfights, heavy fighters with their deadly straight attacks, and strafing aircrafts, the fearsome threat to ground targets.

Every plane will feature multiple variations of ammo types, engines, and other crucial modules, and their various combinations will allow players to pick the optimal configuration for the most effective behavior in combat.

Find more about World of Warplanes at http://www.worldofwarplanes.com/