War Thunder is a 2013 free-to-play vehicular combat multiplayer video game produced by Gaijin Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Oculus, and Vive. It was first released in November 2012 as an open beta with a worldwide release in January 2013; it had its official release on December 21, 2016.[12][7] A spinoff game called War Thunder Mobile (also known as War Thunder Edge[13]) was released in 2023 for Android and iOS. Developed as a "flying simulation game", it was previously named War Thunder: World of Planes,[14] but due to its similarity with Wargaming's World of Warplanes, it was changed to its present name in 2012.[15][16] Initially, Gaijin claimed after the game was announced that it was an April Fools joke before confirming its existence in June that same year.[17] 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.[18][19] In 2019, War Thunder was among the most played games on Steam with over 25,000 concurrent players.[20][a] As of November 1, 2022, War Thunder had over 70 million registered players on all platforms combined, out of which 160,000 play concurrently.[21] In February 2024, War Thunder set a new record of over 250,000 concurrent players.[22] War Thunder is based around combined arms battles on air, land, and sea.[23] Vehicles range from pre-World War I (ships only)[24] to the modern day,[25] as well as tanks that are not technically in service yet,[26] with an emphasis on World War II,[27][28] the Vietnam War, and the Cold War.[29] Players can control aircraft, ground vehicles, and warships from nations with a set of technology trees attached to them. The game also incorporates other nations. These nations are included either as "sub-trees" (parts of the research trees of bigger nations being dedicated to a smaller nation) or premium vehicles, purchasable with real money or in-game currency. Vehicles are divided into three main categories: aviation, ground, and fleet, while game modes are divided between arcade, realistic, and simulator.[30] Aviation is divided between regular aircraft and helicopters, fleet is divided between "Bluewater", ships from the size of destroyers to battlecruisers and battleships and "Coastal", smaller ships and boats such as motor torpedo boats, motor gunboats, submarine chasers, and frigates.[31] A single-player mode that focuses on historical battles, and a co-op wave survival mode for battling AI ground vehicles and aircraft, are also available.[30] In War Thunder, the player takes control of a vehicle, depending on the type of battle. That player is in full control of their vehicle until it is destroyed by the enemy team. The objective of most battles is to accumulate points, either by destroying enemy vehicles or capturing strategic positions on the map. On several occasions, users of the War Thunder forum have shared restricted and/or classified documents during discussions about the accuracy of the vehicles depicted. In all cases, offending posts are removed by the moderators, and users are warned against sharing such documents. Anton Yudintsev, founder of Gaijin Entertainment, has stated that the development team is never exposed to the contents, reminding users that "it's both illegal and pointless, so they should never do that".[76]
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