Issue 041 — July 2026

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War Thunder

Play Free View Nations

War Thunder is Gaijin Entertainment's free-to-play vehicular combat MMO built around historically-modelled tanks, aircraft, helicopters and warships. You research and crew real machines across ten nations — from World War II biplanes and Shermans to Cold War jets, modern main battle tanks and missile-armed helicopters — and take them into large team battles on land, in the air and at sea. A per-vehicle Battle Rating (BR) balances matchmaking, and three modes (Arcade, Realistic and Simulator) let you dial the realism from forgiving arcade physics up to full cockpit simulation. Combined-arms maps mean a single ground battle can feature tanks, close-air support and SPAA all at once.

Our takeWorth It

Developer: Gaijin Entertainment
Publisher: Gaijin Entertainment (Steam: Gaijin Network Ltd)
Global launch: 2013-08-15
Steam release: 2013-08-15
Model: Free-to-Play (Golden Eagles premium currency, premium account, premium vehicles & battle pass)
Genre: Vehicular Combat · Massively Multiplayer · Simulation · Action · Free-to-Play · MMO
Platforms: PC (Windows / macOS / Linux), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S — with cross-play

TanksAircraftNavalHelicoptersCombined ArmsMilitary Sim

First Impressions

The Preview

Our TakeWorth It

War Thunder is one of the deepest and most generous vehicle games on PC: the sheer breadth — thousands of ground, air and naval machines across ten nations, all in one free client — is unmatched, and the physics-driven damage model rewards genuine skill. The trade-off is a steep learning curve and a grind-and-economy loop that the community regularly clashes with Gaijin over (recent Steam reviews sit at "Mixed", all-time "Mostly Positive"). Start in Arcade at low Battle Ratings, pick a forgiving nation like the USA or USSR, and it is one of the most rewarding free games you can install.

Read our full preview →

Nations

Full codex · 10 →

USA

All-rounder superpower · Nation

Germany

Precision engineering · Nation

USSR

Armour & firepower · Nation

Great Britain

Quirky but rewarding · Nation

Japan

Agility & firepower · Nation

Italy

Underrated mixed bag · Nation

France

Autoloaders & odd designs · Nation

Sweden

Innovative tech · Nation

Guides

Beginner

War Thunder beginner's guide: your first battles

How to start War Thunder the right way — the mode to pick, the nation to learn, and how not to bankrupt yourself.

PC Game Pilot7 min

Beginner-focused

War Thunder nation & mode tier list for beginners

An honest, defensible ranking — not of single vehicles, but of the nations, modes and BR brackets that serve new players best.

PC Game Pilot6 min

Core systems

Game modes and Battle Ratings explained

Arcade, Realistic and Simulator — and how the Battle Rating system decides who you fight.

PC Game Pilot6 min

Launch Codes

How to redeem →

No active codes right now.As soon as codes are available for War Thunder, we'll post them on the codes page — with the full redemption steps.Visit the codes page →

How It Compares

All comparisons →

War Thunder vs World of Tanks

A serious side-by-side look at War Thunder depth, ballistics and combined arms against World of Tanks faster, tank-only arcade structure.

War Thunder vs World of Tanks HEAT

Wargaming fast 2026 tank shooter goes up against War Thunder vast combined-arms simulation sandbox.

War Thunder vs World of Warships

War Thunder naval realism and combined-arms context versus World of Warships dedicated, role-driven ship combat.

Gallery

WT screenshot 1

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Images © Gaijin Entertainment / Gaijin Entertainment (Steam: Gaijin Network Ltd), shown editorially.