War Thunder
War Thunder combines aviation, tanks, and ships in one combat space, offering historically accurate models of technology and realistic damage... Read more
War Thunder combines aviation, tanks, and ships in one combat space, offering historically accurate models of technology and realistic damage physics. It is the largest free-to-play cross-platform MMO about mechanized warfare, where players fight in combined battles and various modes according to the chosen difficulty — from arcade mode to true realism.
The game's concept
War Thunder represents major military powers — such as the USSR, Germany, the USA, the UK, Japan, Italy, and others — through tech trees that progress from simple models to more complex and advanced ones. Each nation offers a unique set of tanks, aircraft, and ships that players gradually unlock as they advance through the tech tree. Fully upgrading a branch requires a significant amount of effort and hours of gameplay.
For example, by choosing the USSR branch, a player starts with the most basic machines: light tanks or biplanes. As they progress, more modern units become available — such as the T-34, T-64, and T-80 tanks, jet fighters, and stealth bombers, as well as the fleet — from powerful but clumsy dreadnoughts to agile destroyers, and later missile cruisers.
The game world is built on realistic theaters of war, often recreating historical events — the Battle of Britain or naval battles in the Pacific — with the addition of fictional scenarios (such as an alien attack in the fictional city of Green Hills in 2019 or a futuristic war in 2077 in 2021). Each combat space is designed for combined operations, where pairs of air <> ground or sea <> air interact with each other.
Maps and location design
War Thunder features over 50 maps, each reflecting key historical themes of a specific theater of war or a unique gameplay scenario (real and fictional). The location design encompasses a variety of landscapes and biomes that influence tactics and gameplay:
- Europe — battlefields of World War II with diverse landscapes ranging from urban streets full of cover and buildings for ambushes to rural areas with open meadows and forests. Examples: Stalingrad, Kursk, Normandy.
- The Pacific region — vast waters with islands, archipelagos, and naval bases, an ideal setting for naval and air battles. Examples: Midway, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
- Arctic zones — ice-covered territories with limited visibility, challenging weather conditions, and slippery surfaces. Often used for special events, such as Silent Thunder.
- Africa and Asia — open spaces where there can be deserts, dunes, rocks, and rare oases, or dense jungles with complex terrain. The element of stealth and maneuvering plays a key role. Examples: Sinai, Tunisia, Vietnam.
- Fictional locations are maps created for unique events or modes, such as futuristic battles on the Launch Facility map, or naval battles on sailing ships in the tropical setting of the Caribbean.
Each map is adapted for a specific type of combat, which defines the tasks and interactions of players:
- Ground battles are tank battles in confined spaces where players capture and hold control points, using cover and fortified positions.
- Air battles are dynamic air combat of fighters over mountains, plains, or bodies of water. The objective is to destroy enemy aircraft and, in some cases, support ground targets.
- Naval battles are large fleet engagements in straits and bays, where ships fight for control over key areas on the water.
- Combined battles are the most extensive mode, where pairs of tanks and aircraft or ships and planes participate. The task is to coordinate actions between different types of vehicles to complete missions and capture key points, such as airfields and ports.
Up to 32 players (16 per team) can participate simultaneously on most maps. In special events, the number of players can reach up to 64, creating large-scale combat scenarios. The maps include dynamic elements: destruction of buildings and vehicles, changing weather conditions, day/night cycles, as well as opportunities for tactical use of the environment.
The essence of gameplay
After loading, players immediately enter the Hangar, where the entire arsenal of the chosen nation’s vehicles is presented: tanks, aircraft, or ships. Here, players can switch between branches — for example, from ground vehicles to aviation — choose the difficulty level, and determine the type of battle they want to participate in. Players take on the roles of pilots, tankers, or captains without personalized stories or heroes.
Before each battle, players assemble their lineup of vehicles — selecting machines and arranging them in crew slots. Initially, there are two slots, with a maximum of ten, and players can place one unit of equipment in each. At the start of the battle, everyone begins with the first vehicle from the lineup. After destruction, players can respawn in the next vehicle from the "deck." This creates a tactical layer of planning — players need to think about which vehicles to take, in what order to use them, and how to balance the composition.
A key point: all vehicles in the lineup must have a close battle rating (BR). The matchmaking system looks at the highest BR in the lineup and selects opponents within a range of plus or minus one. Therefore, one cannot simply take a top tank along with starter ones — strong vehicles will pull into an unsuitable battle where weaker vehicles will be useless.
When all vehicles are eliminated or the battle ends in victory or defeat, players move to the results menu: receiving rewards, experience for the crew, and progress in research. Further, you can improve the crew, install new modifications on the equipment, change camouflage or emblems, and select ammunition. There are no temporary buffs that enhance characteristics in War Thunder — all improvements are permanent and tied to a specific vehicle.
Then everything repeats again — choosing equipment, settings, battle, rewards — in an endless cycle where each step brings the player closer to unlocking a new vehicle or an entire tech branch.
Game Modes
PvP (Multiplayer)
In PvP modes, players fight against each other, and the outcome of the battle depends on their skills, tactics, and equipment. These modes are divided by realism level, allowing everyone to choose their play style: from simplified and dynamic to maximally authentic.
- Arcade battles are the most accessible and dynamic mode. Here, the physics are simplified, the equipment is more maneuverable, and mistakes are forgiven. Players receive assistance in aiming, all important indicators are displayed, and teams are formed from mixed nations for greater variety. Battles are fast-paced, with several respawns, providing maximum thrill and fun. This mode is perfect for beginners and relaxed gameplay. Objectives include capturing points and dominating the map.
- Realistic battles are a mode where equipment adheres much more to the laws of physics, and shooting takes into account ballistics and gravity. Players have only one life per vehicle, minimal indicators, and assistance. Teams are formed based on historical alliances (for example, the USSR and the USA against Germany and Japan), which requires careful planning, positioning, and teamwork.
- Simulator battles offer maximum realism for hardcore players. Visibility is limited to the cockpit or aiming view, control is fully manual, without markers, and players must consider all factors such as wind, fuel, and damage. One precise shot can determine the outcome of the battle. Teams are historical, respawns are limited, and battles often focus on aviation or ground forces with simulation elements. This mode requires deep knowledge of the equipment and is intended for enthusiasts seeking complete immersion in combat.
Within all three modes, the same types of battles operate:
- “Domination” — teams need to capture and hold control points (usually three, A, B, and C) located on the map. For each held point, the team earns points, which gradually deplete the opponent's “scale.” Victory is achieved when the opponent's score scale drops to zero, or when the entire enemy team is destroyed. The strategic element is that holding the majority of points allows for faster depletion of the opponent's points.
- “Battle” — the fight is for capturing one central point. Both teams spawn at opposite ends of the map and move towards the single capture point in the center. This often leads to large-scale and fierce clashes in one key area. Holding this point depletes the enemy team's points.
- “Breakthrough” is an asymmetric mode where one team acts as attackers and the other defends. The attackers must sequentially capture control points, advancing deep into enemy territory. Each subsequent point becomes available only after capturing the previous one. The defenders, in turn, must hold back the assault, preventing the enemy from capturing all points before time runs out.
- “Conquest” is a mode where teams must hold several points simultaneously for a certain period. This mode requires excellent coordination and resource allocation, as the enemy may attempt to capture any of the points to reset the timer.
For aviation:
- “Air Dominance” is analogous to ground “Dominance,” adapted for air battles. There is a large zone over the map that must be held. For this, aircraft of one team must be present in it without enemy aircraft. Holding the zone depletes the enemy's points. Victory is achieved when the enemy's score bar is empty or all enemy aircraft are destroyed.
- “Ground Strikes” require pilots not only to destroy enemy aircraft but also to attack ground targets. Various ground targets are located on the map, such as bunkers, tanks, artillery batteries, and even enemy airfields. Destroying these targets earns points for the team and depletes the enemy. This mode encourages the use of attack aircraft and bombers, while fighters can support their strike aircraft or intercept enemy ones.
Naval battles use the same basic mechanics (“Dominance,” “Battle,” “Breakthrough”) as other vehicles but adapted for ships.
PvE (Cooperative)
In PvE, players team up against AI, and success depends on joint actions during waves of enemy attacks. A great way to practice or relax without competition from other players.
- “Assault” is a cooperative mode where up to 8–10 players defend a base against waves of attacking AI units. Enemies can be ground vehicles, aircraft, or helicopters, and the waves gradually become more challenging. Ammunition is free here, but losing equipment in arcade mode requires a fee for respawning. The mode is available in arcade format, and rewards depend on how long the team lasts.
- “Air Assault” is a variant of the mode for aviation. Players fight against waves of aircraft and bombers controlled by AI, trying to prevent the destruction of the base. Gameplay is similar to ground “Assault,” but focused on air battles. The number of participants is up to 8.
Single Player
War Thunder also offers modes for those who want to play alone or practice skills without other players.
- Single missions are a set of scenarios with AI opponents that can be completed solo. Some of them are based on historical events, while others are of a training nature.
- Test drives and flights are an opportunity to test any unlocked vehicle on the range: evaluate maneuverability, armament, modules, and ease of control. There are no enemies here, but you can set simple battle conditions, which helps to get accustomed to the vehicle before buying or fighting.
- Training is a basic tutorial on controlling vehicles of different classes (aviation, tanks, navy). It includes simple tasks like takeoff, maneuvers, and shooting.
Special Events
Temporary modes with unique rules, often tied to holidays or updates, offering rare rewards and adding variety to regular modes.
- “Prolonged Confrontation” is a three-hour strategic battle for aviation, where players can join at any time and are unlimited in respawns. The focus is on influencing the front: capturing sectors, bombing airfields, convoys. The naval “Prolonged Confrontation” is available periodically in events from Thursday to Monday. Victory is achieved through points or exhausting the opponent.
- “World War” is a periodically held large-scale global campaign on the strategic world map, where squadrons manage armies in operations. Players move troops, plan attacks and defenses, with missions like convoys, bombings, or captures. The mode is conducted in seasons.
- Seasonal events are temporary activities, such as tank football (capturing the ball with tanks), vehicle racing, historical operations (recreating battles like the Battle of Britain), or fun events like April Fools (UFOs, underwater battles, futuristic wars). Example: Mad Thunder with Mad Max style, Worm Thunder with sandworms, football matches, or biathlon on tanks. Rewards include decals, camouflage, and unique vehicles.
User Content
Players can create and share their own scenarios through the War Thunder SDK.
- Custom battles are missions with custom rules: selection of maps, vehicles, objectives, and conditions. You can play with friends or publicly, test tactics, or recreate historical events.
- Community missions are content from the portal live.warthunder.com, including user campaigns and scenarios. The community creates missions from single-player adventures to multiplayer events, with ratings and regular updates.
Progression and Upgrade System
In War Thunder, progression is built around the technology tree, where players research and unlock vehicles from different nations, improve crews, and modify their machines. The system combines a free-to-play model, where the main progression is available for free, with premium elements that accelerate the acquisition of experience and resources. In 2025, progression is enhanced by the Battle Pass, which increases the flow of rewards, and is constantly refined for better balance and ranking.
The technology tree of each nation is divided into ranks (from I to VIII+). Each combat vehicle has its own Battle Rating (BR), which determines its place in matchmaking. To research new technology, players earn Research Points (RP) in battles. After accumulating the required amount of RP, the vehicle can be purchased for Silver. A premium account doubles RP, significantly speeding up the process. In 2025, updates, including the "Leviathan" patch, added new branches and vehicles, focusing on modern technology, and also strengthened the influence of the Battle Pass on progression.
After unlocking, each vehicle can be upgraded with modifications (new engines, weapons, armor). This requires RP and Silver. "Stock" vehicles without modifications have lower characteristics, while a fully upgraded vehicle receives bonuses to its combat characteristics.
Crews are a key element in progression. Each crew slot has its own skills (for example, for aviation, these will be piloting skills, and for tanks — shooting accuracy), which are upgraded through experience from battles. Crew levels range from rookie to ace. Training a crew to the status of "Expert" (for Silver) or "Ace" (for Gold) provides significant bonuses. Retraining a crew for a new vehicle allows you to retain all accumulated progress, making well-trained crews a valuable asset.
The game has two main currencies:
- Silver — the primary currency earned in battles. It is used for repairing vehicles, purchasing ammunition, acquiring new vehicles and modifications.
- Gold — premium currency purchased with real money. It is used to buy premium vehicles, convert experience, speed up crew training, and cosmetic items.
A premium account (purchased for days or months) significantly accelerates progression, increasing the earnings of RP and Silver by 100-200% and reducing research costs. Premium vehicles also provide a bonus to earnings, do not require research, and are often rare. Additionally, boosters can temporarily increase income in RP and Silver. Several options for converting one accumulated resource into another are available, but the higher the rank, the slower the grind.
Social features
In War Thunder, those who wish can unite into groups, participate in collective events, and compete on a global level. Social features, such as squadrons and tournaments, create an active community and add a new level of interaction.
Squadrons
A squadron is an in-game clan that unites players under a common name and tag. It is not just a group of interests, but a full-fledged team structure that offers a number of advantages:
- Team play: Members of the squadron find it easier to coordinate actions in battle, explore technology together, and share experiences. This is especially important in realistic and simulator modes.
- Bonuses and rewards: participating in a squadron provides bonuses to progression, which speeds up account development. The most active participants gain access to squadron battles — regular seasonal competitions where exclusive vehicles and other valuable prizes can be won.
You can create or join a squadron through the in-game menu. Top squadrons often focus on professional gameplay and participation in esports tournaments. The reputation of a squadron depends on adherence to rules, and violations can lead to sanctions.
Tournaments
Tournaments in War Thunder are organized competitions that allow players and teams to test their skills. Competitions are held at both local and global levels and offer valuable prizes.
- WTCS (War Thunder Championship Series): an official esports league that includes four major tournaments a year. These competitions, such as Titan 5x5 Realistic Battles and Summer CUP, showcase gameplay at the highest level.
- Formats and prizes: participants can compete in various formats — from one-on-one duels to team matches, as well as tournaments for entire squadrons. The prize pool includes unique premium vehicles, exclusive decals, and in-game currency.
- Partner and seasonal events: in addition to official leagues, other tournaments sponsored by partners, such as the Phoenix Tournament, are also held. Seasonal cups, like the Thunder Cup, are often streamed on Twitch with the possibility of drops for viewers.
Tournaments are available to everyone. You can register on the official game website, choosing the appropriate format and discipline.
Graphics, cross-platform support, and VR support
War Thunder is not only about large-scale battles but also a technologically advanced game available on a wide range of devices. Thanks to its own Dagor Engine, the game offers high-quality graphics and fully supports cross-platform gameplay.
Graphics
The project supports resolutions up to 4K and offers technologies like NVIDIA Ansel for creating cinematic screenshots. Graphics settings are very flexible, allowing players to find a balance between image quality and performance. Among other features:
- Highly detailed vehicle models with realistic textures and damage.
- Dynamic effects, such as realistic lighting, weather conditions, and destructible environmental elements that affect the course of battle.
- Immersive effects of explosions, tracer bullets, fire, and smoke that create a sense of complete immersion in the action.
In 2025, developers improved anti-aliasing and CPU loading for smoothness at high settings, especially in VR modes with 120 FPS.
Cross-platform compatibility
War Thunder is available on multiple devices: PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), PlayStation, Xbox. Users connect to unified servers, and friends and opponents can be on any of the supported platforms and participate in shared battles. The exception is the mobile version — War Thunder Mobile, which operates separately and does not merge with the main game.
Progress can be linked to an email through a Gaijin account. This allows users to have a single account on both consoles and PC. However, there is a nuance: accounts transferred from console to computer become separate after linking, and further changes are saved only on the platform where they were made. Reversing the transfer (PC → console) is not possible.
On consoles, there is an option to disable cross-play in the settings to play exclusively with players on the same system. If it is turned off, only arcade mode for air or ground battles is available.
VR support
War Thunder offers full support for virtual reality, which elevates immersion in the game to a new level, especially in simulation battles and in the air. Gamers see the world from the cockpit, making control and navigation intuitive. All popular VR headsets are supported, including Oculus and HTC Vive. To maintain balance, the matchmaking system in VR modes tries to group players only with other VR headset users. This ensures fair competition and makes the gameplay more equitable.
System requirements and PC test
- Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista SP1, Windows 7
- CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.20GHz; AMD Athlon XP 2200+
- RAM: 1 GB
- Free Space: 8 GB
- Video Card: GeForce 7900 GT
- Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista SP1, Windows 7
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
- RAM: 4 GB
- Free Space: 8 GB
- Video Card: GeForce GTX 460; Radeon HD 6850
Reviews and ratings
I've been playing this game for a long time, very rarely lately, but I look into it. You can compare it with how it was at least a year or a couple of years ago. Namely: Back then, the economic system of breakouts and graphics was still normal. yes yes graphics. Now all this is gone. The latest update is right on target and further confirms to those who are interested in this shit that there is no point in playing here. even if you take a year or a couple of years ago, playing on a premium account, playing actively, but for example, having lost, you could take away 1k experience 12-15k sulfur. Now, namely yesterday, 09.18.21, having played with my comrades in a platoon, I understood why my friends left this game, having each had 30k battles and a lot of hours. Having played an active battl… Read full
Играю в эту игру давно, в последнее время крайне редко, но заглядываю. Сравнить с тем как было хотя бы год или пару лет назад можно. А именно: Тогда еще была норм экономика система пробитий и графика. да да графика. Сейчас всего этого нет. Последняя обнова точно в цель еще сильнее подтверждает тем, кому интересна данное говнецо, что играть тут нет никакого смысла. если даже взять год или пару лет назад играя на премм акке играя активно, но к примеру проиграв забрать можно было 1к опыта 12-15к серы. Сейчас, а именно вчера 18.09.21 сыграв с товарищами взводом, я понял почему мои друзья ушли из этой игры имея у каждого по 30к боев и очень много часов. Сыграв активный бой, да проиграв, играли на Германии 5.7. Многое что сделали в бою фраги, захваты, помощь все с этим было нормально, но на выхо… Read full
A game in which you will feel in all its glory all the delights of RPU (personal oppression mode). The goal of the game is to pump maximum money out of players. Regardless of the skill, everyone should die as evenly as possible and donate and donate to the limit, otherwise you won’t even have 10 lives to level up to the top. Therefore, do not be surprised by the miracles of tanking when you are one-shotted by some kind of *assassination, which in principle does not penetrate you, and you get stuck and cannot kill some cardboard. Just look at your opponent's stats later...
Игра, в которой вы во всей красе почувствуете все прелести РПУ(режим персоналного угнетения). Цель игры — выкачивание из игроков максимум денег. Независимо от скила все должны умирать максимально равномерно и донатить-донатить до упора, иначе на прокачку до топов вам не хватит и 10 жизней. Поэтому не удивляйтесь чудесам танкования, когда вас на тяже ваншотит какая-то *уйня, которая вас в принципе не пробивает, а вы захекаетесь и не сможете убить какой-нибудь картон. Просто гляньте потом стат оппонента...
the tundra has sunk to the ground,
is a fake anti-cheat, YouTube is littered with videos of cheats for 2020, which supposedly are no longer in the project.
sale of broken premium equipment, for which there are officially accepted bug reports, the equipment is not repaired, but at the same time they do not even bother to remove it from sale...what is it called?.
the players are to blame for all the game's problems,
any complaint - a ban,
mention of cheats - a ban,
a mention of broken equipment - a ban,
a ban for everything that is not convenient or profitable for them ,
but bans won’t solve the game’s problems.
bug reports have been lying around for years,
nations are being molded into heaps with the same equipment, only for the sake of introducing more bonuses.
the turntables with ships didn’t come t… Read full
тундра скатилась ниже плинтуса ,
фейковый античит , ютуб завален видео с читами за 2020 год, которых якобы теперь нет в проекте.
продажа поломанной прем техники , на которые лежат багрепорты официально принятые , технику не чинят , но при этом даже не удосуживаются снять её с продажи ...как это называется?.
во всех косяках игры виноваты игроки ,
на любую жалобу — бан,
упоминание читов — бан,
упоминание за сломанную технику — бан,
бан за всё что им не удобно и не выгодно,
только вот банами — проблемы игры не решить.
багрепорты лежат годами,
нации лепятся кучами с одинаковой техникой, только ради того , что бы вводить больше премов.
вертушки с кораблями не зашли , не прижились в проекте , зато куча наваренного бабла за предзаказы
когдато отличную игру превратили в помойку … Read full
The presence of a built-in RPU code in the game (Kirill Yudintsev himself admitted its presence on the stream when he voiced how the game system works at the initial levels). He himself burned this scheme, that the game plays along with newcomers. Because of this, the physics of the game is turned into insanity, when shells cannot penetrate cardboard, or when a heavy tank is destroyed with one bullet, or when a shell flies through a tank and nothing happens. The dominance of cheaters and the complete absence of any fight against them, poor fleet modes, which are more like the mode of paper boats in a puddle until someone boards a plane and that’s it. Everyone is tired of stupid point captures and senile maps for tanks that are more like a cattle pen. The developers were only smart enough t… Read full
Наличие в игре встроенного кода РПУ (Кирилл Юдинцев сам признал его наличие на стриме, когда озвучил как работает система игры на начальных уровнях). Он сам спалил эту схему, что игра подыгрывает новичкам. Из-за этого физика игры превращена в маразм, когда снаряды не могут пробить картон, или когда одной пулькой уничтожается тяжелый танк или когда снаряд пролетает насквозь танк и ничего не происходит. Засилье читеров и полное отсутствие какой либо борьбы с ними, убогие режимы флота, который более похож на режим бумажных корабликов в луже пока кто либо не сядет на самолет и все. Всем надоевшие тупые захваты точек и маразматические карты для танков более похожие на загон для скота. У разработчиков хватило ума только нарисовать модельки танков, самолетов и кораблей — все остальное полный бред… Read full
This is an ordinary shooter, there is no physics that the developers claim. Tanks jump on bumps like cardboard, they can’t knock down a tree, a shell goes right through the tank and there’s no damage, etc. Without paying for a premium account, you are just a texture that moves around the field and even branches pierce it, you, in turn, do not pierce anyone, all because of the RPU introduced into the game, which really does not allow you to play. Only cheaters and premium accounts play here. Cheaters are not banned because the developers don’t have the brains to weed them out. An ordinary marketing project to suck out money for a new generation of “consumers”. Everything in the game is geared towards donations and money injections. There is no point in writing on the forum, since it is mode… Read full
Это обычный шутер, никакой физики о которой заявляют разработчики нет. Танки прыгают на кочках как картонные, не могут свалить дерево, снаряд пролетает танк насквозь и никакого ущерба и т.д. Без оплаты премиум-аккаунта вы просто текстура которая ездит по полю и ее пробивают даже ветки, вы в свою очередь не пробиваете никого, все из-за внедренного в игру РПУ, которое реально не дает играть. Играют тут только читеры и прем акки. Читеров не банят так как у разработчиков нет мозгов как их отсеять. Обычный маркетинговый проект для высасывания бабла для нового поколения "потребителей". В игре все заточено на донат и вливание денег. На форуме писать бессмысленно так как его модерируют люди сидящие на зарплате в Gaijin и за любую попытку вынести правду на обсуждение — сразу банят (как в игре так … Read full