Wargaming's plan to develop a flight combat MMO action game was first conceived during the early stages of World of Tanks’ development. World of Warplanes was announced at E3 in 2011,less than two months after the World of Tanks release in Europe and North America.Development was assigned to Persha Studia,the Kiev-based development center of Wargaming.

The game went from concept to a playable prototype in only two months. Early alpha testing began August 2011.

Wargaming showcased the first public World of Warplanes trailer at Gamescom in August 2011.Wargaming first showed a closed demonstration of the alpha version to journalists at the Igromir Expo in October 2011.

American aircraft were the first planes to be added to the World of Warplanes tech tree.

World of Warplanes alpha test started recruiting test players on February 23, 2012. World of Warplanes closed beta test began May 30, 2012.The game received over two million applications within the first three months of testing.

World of Warplanes was selected as Europe’s "Most Wanted Online Game" at the European Games Awards in 2012.

On April 4, 2013, the non-disclosure agreement was lifted for the beta test players,allowing beta testers to share their thoughts, screenshots, and in-game videos. At that time, the game offered six battle arenas and over 80 aircraft models from USSR, USA, Germany, and Japan. World of Warplanes’ open beta testing started on July 2, 2013.

World of Warplanes features over 100 vehicles from Germany, the Soviet Union, USA, Japan, Great Britain, France and China;allowing players to choose from four main warplane classes: fighters, multirole fighters, heavy fighters and ground attack planes.

Each national tech tree introduces squadrons of planes ranging from Tier I entry-level machines all the way up to Tier X advanced jet-powered aircraft. All warplanes can be unlocked and upgraded through a continued gameplay progression.

Aircraft of each class in the same tier vary in flight characteristics and firepower across nations. For example, a Soviet or a Japanese fighter of the same tier will be more horizontally maneuverable than its German and American counterpart but has limited vertical maneuverability.

Tech trees will expand as the game evolves. New nations and additional aircraft for each nation’s tech tree have been gradually introduced post-launch.