Happy Fourth of July! In order to mark Independence Day in the United States, Wargaming.net is hosting a special Kursk Operation event in World of Tanks. Until July 5 at 11 a.m. UTC, players will earn five times the experience for their first victory of the day and can purchase a 7-day premium account for the price of 3-day premium account.

But wait, there's more! Through July 8, players can buy consumables such as chocolate, Coca-Cola and large first-aid kits at half-price. Enjoy the deals, and we'll see you on the battlefield! As they say on The Simpsons, "Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it!"

Wargaming.net just announced that World of Tanks Update 6.5 is scheduled to launch tomorrow, June 30. This patch will introduce two new maps: Redshire, which depicts a traditional British settlement, and Arctic Region, the game's very first purely winter location.The update will also feature a line of American tank destroyers and two premium light tanks - the American M22 Locust and the Russian T-127.

Do you want to see these new maps and tanks in action? Then watch the Update 6.5 trailer below!

Thanks to a partnership between Wargaming.net and Interactive Gaming Software, boxed editions of World of Tanks will soon be available in retail stores throughout the United States for $19.99. Here's what Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi had to say about the news:

“We’re extremely proud to say that our headliner will finally appear in stores. We are happy to partner with IGS and hope that their tremendous expertise in distributing retail production will help in bringing the popularity of World of Tanks to a completely new level.”

The game constantly manages to set new player records, so it's safe to say that its popularity will indeed get a boost from the boxed editions. Of course, you don't need to wait for the retail version to arrive in stores to play this free-to-play game. Simply head over to the World of Tanks site to register for an account and jump into some tanks!

World of Tanks has invaded E3! Above you'll see a couple tanks parked outside the Los Angeles Convention Center, which demonstrates that Wargaming.net is passionate about their subject material.

If you'd prefer to see some virtual tanks, Wargaming.net has released a huge batch of new World of Tanks screenshots at E3, as well as a new clan wars trailer. You can view the screenshots in our gallery and watch the video below!

Also, in case you missed the news, Wargaming.net announced today that it's developing a game called World of Warplanes that features military aircraft from the 1930s through the 1950s. Maybe they'll show off some actual warplanes at E3 2012!

Wargaming.net, the company behind World of Tanks, announced today that it is developing World of Warplanes, a stand-alone free-to-play game that is based on military air dominance ranging from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Wargaming.net hasn't released any other details on World of Warplanes yet, but we're sure more information will be released at E3 this week. Of course, we're looking forward to the game simply from its title and concept. How about you?

World of Tanks is bridging the gap between MMOs and museums this month! The game will be featured at the Tank Museum's Tankfest Evolution event in Bovington, England on June 25-26. This annual British military history show bringing the story of tanks and soldiers to life.

As one of the largest virtual examples of World War II era steel armor, World of Tanks will fit right in at Tankfest Evolution. If you're in the area, be sure to check out the event and meet up with members of the World of Tanks development team!

World of Tanks just keeps breaking records! Last week the game reached a new milestone for peak concurrent users. Today Wargaming.net announced that the total number of registrations across all three servers has topped 3 million! Here's the breakdown:

• The Russian server has 2,000,000 registrations.
• The North American and European servers combined have scored 1,200,000 sign-ups after the game’s release on April 12.
• 620,000 players have registered on the NA server, which means about 580,000 players have registed on the EU server.

If you've been dealing with lag issues in World of Tanks since patch 0.6.4 launched last week, Wargaming.net recommends that you read their latest developers' blog entry. It explains the nature of the lag issues and offers a suggestion on how to fix the problem:

"If you experience heavy lag, we recommend that you find your “trace route” to our game server. In Windows, start a Command Prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd), then type 'tracert 174.34.231.132.' This should also work for any third-party tracking application. Send the results to our Support Services by opening a support ticket. We are grateful for your cooperation and patience in helping us resolve these issues."

Wargaming.net just announced on the World of Tanks Facebook page that the Russian server has hit a record high of 155,000 concurrent players! That crushes the game's Guinness World Record of 91,311 concurrent players, which was set in January.

In other World of Tanks news, patch v.0.6.4 is scheduled to launch tomorrow, May 17. The update will introduce two new maps, new vehicles and much more. Take a look at the new “Mountain Pass” and “Prairies" maps in this new video.

World of Tanks fans are looking forward to the upcoming v.0.6.4 update, which developer Chris K. said should launch next week. According to the preliminary patch notes, the update will introduce two new maps, new vehicles and much more. While we wait for the launch of the major patch, check out the video showcasing the new “Mountain Pass” and “Prairies" maps below.