War Thunder

''War Thunder'' is a free-to-play vehicular combat multiplayer video game developed and published by Gaijin Entertainment. Announced in 2011, it was first released in November 2012 as an open beta with a worldwide release in January 2013; it had its official release on 21 December 2016. It has a cross-platform format for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Shield Android TV.

Developed as a " flying simulation game", it was previously named ''World of Planes'' but due to its similarity with Wargaming's ''World of Warplanes'' it was changed to its present name in 2012. Initially, Gaijin claimed after the game was announced that it was an April Fools joke before confirming its existence in June that same year.

''War Thunder'' won several awards following its release, winning Best Simulation Game at the Gamescom 2013 Awards as well as winning Best Game, Best Developer, Best Technology and Best Sound at the KRI 2013 Awards. In 2019, ''War Thunder'' was among the most played games on Steam with over 25,000 concurrent players on Steam only. In 2022 the number of concurrent ''War Thunder'' players on Steam only was over 50,000 on average and peaked at 76,204 on March, 31. These numbers do not include players who use consoles or Gaijin.net service for PC. Official website claims that there are 50+ million gamers registered in War Thunder in total.

As of November 1, 2022, ''War Thunder'' has over 160,000 concurrent players on all platforms combined and over 70 million registered users.

Gameplay

''War Thunder'' is based around combined arms battles on air, land, and sea. According to the game's creative director Kirill Yudintsev, it is the only game that encompasses all three of these experiences in one gameplay session. Vehicles range from pre-World War I naval vessels, from the interwar period and the Spanish Civil War for tanks and aircraft, to the Iraq War and beyond, with an emphasis on World War II as well as an emphasis on the Vietnam War and the Cold War. Players can control aircraft, ground vehicles, and warships from the United States, Germany, Russia, Britain, France, and Japan, as well as nations with smaller militaries or less prominence in conflicts, such as Italy, China, Sweden and Israel. The game also incorporates smaller nations like Finland, South Africa, and Portugal.

Vehicles are divided into three main categories: Aviation, Ground, and Fleet, while game modes are divided between Arcade, Realistic, and Simulator. Aviation is divided between fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and Fleet is divided between " Bluewater" and "Coastal", where Bluewater represents ships from the size of destroyers to battleships and battlecruisers, while Coastal focuses on smaller ships such as motor torpedo boats, motor gunboats, subchasers, and frigates. A single player mode is also available that focuses on historical battles, and also a cooperative mode for battling AI ground vehicles and aircraft.

Game modes

The game features three game modes, all of which start both teams with a number of "tickets", and certain actions reduce the enemy teams' tickets until one team has none left. If there are no players left on a team, that team will immediately lose. In ground and naval battles, the primary objective is usually either capturing and holding strategic points (i.e. "king of the hill"), or completely capturing enemy points (i.e. "capture the flag"). This is not an exhaustive description of each game mode, and there are many details unique to each game mode.

Arcade Battles

Arcade battles (aka "arcade" or "AB") is a fast-paced game mode with many player aides to ease gameplay. Most vehicles receive extra engine power, and tanks have higher turret traverse rates. Markers are on at almost all times, showing players where enemies are. The player's chosen nation does not affect what enemies they may come across; they may fight the very same vehicle they are playing. While playing a tank, a marker visible in the sniper scope will indicate where the selected shell will land and is colored green, yellow, or red depending on whether or not it could penetrate the enemy tank's armor. Air battles have a variety of battle modes with different objectives, but usually, the player can resort to fulfilling their aircraft's historic role, such as ground attack or dogfighting. Aircraft in this game mode can reload their weapons whilst airborne. Players have exactly 3 spawns per battle in Ground game modes, and as many respawns as they have available aircraft in Air Battles.

Realistic Battles

Realistic battles (or "Realistic" or "RB") is a slightly slower-paced game mode than arcade. Vehicles generally have their historic characteristics such as engine power and turret traverse rate, or for planes, climb rate and turn rate. In ground battles, markers only identify friendly players. While tanks can shoot and hit friendly tanks, it is impossible to actually damage them. Planes, however, are able to damage each other, as well as be damaged by friendly anti aircraft vehicles. Unlike ground arcade battles, there is not a definite number of spawns; in order to respawn, the player must have previously earned enough "spawn points" by completing objectives like eliminating other enemy players' vehicles or capturing points. If a player is doing well in a game, they collect more spawn points and thus can spawn more in a match. If one achieves enough points, they can spawn in an aircraft to provide close air support in ground battles, and if the vehicles are in a high enough rank, can spawn in a plane armed with a nuke to instantly win a match. In order to use an aircraft, the player must have researched and purchased the aircraft and have it in their hangar. The plane will have its Realistic Battles stats. Air battles again have a variety of game modes, but since players only have 1 spawn, it is almost certain that there is an objective for the player's selected plane available, such as dogfighting or destroying ground bases with bombs. Various limitations apply to an aircraft, including engine overheating, overspeed resulting in structural failure of the airframe, and flaps or landing gear being torn apart when trying to deploy at high speed. There is also no way to reload an aircraft's weapons except by landing on an airfield base.

Simulator Battles

Simulator battles (aka "sim", "simulator", or "SB") is a much slower-paced game mode based largely on realistic battles. All vehicles behave near identically to how they would in realistic battles. Unlike realistic however, there are no markers for the enemy or friendly team. In Ground battles of this mode, tanks can kill friendly units, so it is important to be able to tell friendly tanks from enemy tanks. In this mode, it is guaranteed that a team will have tanks of only one nation, and allied tanks can only be told apart from enemy tanks through identifying said tank and knowing what nation it belongs to. Players are forced into the commander's view, usually above the commander's cupola. Arcade and realistic battles use a "random battle" format, where any vehicle in the nation's tech tree can play. In simulator, there is a predetermined list of vehicles for each side. Players start with a number of spawn points, and choosing a vehicle takes a certain number away. There is no way to replenish spawn points; in general, players can choose a medium tank 3 times before having no more spawns. Simulator air battles are done through "Enduring Confrontation", a much longer format with a wide variety of objectives for any type of aircraft within a particular 'Battle Rating' (BR) bracket. Players are forced into the cockpit view, and if the aircraft has gunners such as on a bomber, the player can toggle between these two views. Controls are based on a mouse joystick, in which the movement of the mouse corresponds to the movement of the joystick or yoke in a real aircraft, as opposed to flight in Arcade or Realistic in which the mouse simply aims the aircraft and controls its attitude.

Events

Events in ''War Thunder'' provide custom missions, usually based on one of the three main game modes, but with alternative settings regarding allowed vehicles, mission specifics, etc. Examples are the recreation of historical battles by restricting available vehicles (e.g. Battle of Britain).

Traditionally, the developers prepare unconventional events for April Fools' Day. It is a well known open secret that these events are used to test planned game mechanics before a broad release to the playerbase. In 2022, Gaijin introduced a ''Dune''-inspired game mode called "Worm Thunder: Children of Arachis" which involves two factions fighting over cinnamon in the desert while also avoid being eaten by a giant sandworm. In 2021, Gaijin held 2 events, "Tailspin" and "Warfare 2077". Tailspin was a game mode that took place on a map called "Cape Somerset bay" that had a cartoon art style. Players took control of new planes apart of the "Republic of Air Pirates" faction. Warfare 2077 was a futuristic game mode that took place on the "Launch Facility" map and allowed the players to take control of futuristic tanks and planes. In 2020, Gaijin changed the name of the game to "Space Thunder" and introduced space battles. The 2019 event named "Earth Thunder" is an event for April Fools 2019 in ''War Thunder'' where it takes place in a fictional American city named "Green Hills" where the players get to play with UFOs. The 2018 event named "Silent Thunder" was based underwater, with submarines. For 2017, ''War Thunder'' made playable rank IX main battle tanks and attack helicopters. For 2016, ahead of the announcement of the naval forces update, ''War Thunder'' offered playable sailing ships of the 18th century fighting in the Caribbean. The year before, a new game mode called "Unrealistic Battles" featured inflated rubber tanks firing potatoes and carrots. Other notable examples include "March to Victory", introducing playable Mecha composed of tank parts; "The Pony Nation" introducing the world of ''My Little Pony'' as a sixth playable faction (2013); and "Gaijilla" was a battle against a giant Godzilla-like snail (2014).

In August 2020, the game had a tank biathlon-style event featuring select Russian and Chinese tanks performing tasks on a tank range map, with the objective to finish 1st place after navigating obstacles and destroying targets. The event was partnered with the Information Systems Department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Logos advertising the game also appeared during the event, notably painted on the side of the tanks during the real biathlon. The event was teased on August 17 with a YouTube video posted to the game's official YouTube Channel, as well as on the official website.

History

Early development and closed beta

The development of the game as ''World of Planes'' began in 2009. Gaijin Entertainment used its experience with its previous combat flight simulator games such as '' IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey'', '' Apache: Air Assault'', and ''Birds of Steel'' in the development. During closed beta, the title was changed to ''War Thunder'' due to confusion with the competitor ''World of Warplanes'', as well as other reasons such as Gaijin wanting the game to not just be focused on aviation anymore.

Open beta and release

Open beta testing started November 1, 2012 (for users from the Russian Federation; the global beta launched January 28, 2013) for Windows PC with about 200 aircraft and 600,000 players. On May 15, 2014, at 6 million registered players, the first ground forces for Germany and the Soviet Union were introduced. Later added were the American, British, and Japanese ground forces.

In 2017, Italy was added as a playable faction. At Gamescom 2018, the planned addition of helicopters into the game was announced, and as of late 2018, helicopters have been fully implemented.

In 2022 Tencent announced that the Chinese version of the game published by Tencent will be discontinued on October 17.

Classified documents leaks

On July 14, 2021, a forum member claiming to be a Challenger 2 tank commander posted images of classified documents pertaining to the tank on the official ''War Thunder'' forums. The documents, which contained information about the armor structure of the vehicle, were edited to make them appear declassified under the UK Freedom of Information Act. The post was taken down after the UK Ministry of Defence notified Gaijin Entertainment that the documents were classified, and not to be disseminated. The user was given an official warning by forum officials, and the post was removed.

In October 2021, another user leaked classified documents of the Leclerc to win an argument about turret rotation speed. Gaijin forum moderators removed the material within hours, repeating their strict policy against posting restricted documents.

In June 2022, a user posted an image of a Chinese DTC10-125 tungsten penetrator on the ''War Thunder'' forums, sitting atop a document outlining the projectile's specifications. Similar to previous instances, the post was quickly removed by forum moderators, with them citing the fact that the materials in question are classified in China.

Reception

At release, ''War Thunder'' was well-received with generally positive reviews. ''GameSpot'' praised it for its variety of airplanes and visuals, whereas '' IGN'' criticized the user interface for being "overly abundant and cumbersome" in contrast to the "sparse in-battle HUD".

See also

* ''Birds of Steel''
* ''World of Tanks''
* ''World of Warplanes''
* '' World of Warships''

References

External links

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