Pilots, Tankers and aspiring Captains of War Thunder!

Summer earned it’s reputation as the hottest season this year not only because of the good weather, but also thanks to the amazing developments and activities around War Thunder. 

Surely, one of the biggest highlights of recent months was Gamescom 2016, Europe’s biggest gaming exhibition. There, gamers from all over the world witnessed the announcement of a long-awaited expansion to War Thunder - Naval Battles - and were able to get exclusive first-hand experience with the naval vessels planned for inclusion at the start of the Closed Beta. By the end of the year, the first players will be able to join the battle for the world’s oceans either by purchasing one of the pre-order Navy Packs or by being invited to the test, with details to be revealed later.

However, this colossal announcement was by far not the only news this summer. In total, War Thunder received the staggering amount of 28 Updates including two majors: 1.59 Flaming Arrows and 1.61 Road To Glory. Those incorporated more than 70 major enhancements to the game’s flight models and more than 50 to the damage and ground vehicle models alone, in addition to an enormous amount of further minor improvements and tuning. Our developers really were on fire!

Plus, in a mere three months, more than 40 new and reworked air and ground vehicles found their way into the game, including the very first turboprop aircraft and vehicles with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles. Another milestone was reached regarding Community created content, with the pioneering player-made vehicle officially added to the game turning into an instant favourite for many of the millions of registered players in War Thunder.

Our team also reworked, expanded and added to the list of available locations and missions, featuring, for example, the all-new Port of Novorossiysk and the overhauled English Channel, now spanning an astonishing 128 square kilometers! Plenty of locations now come with additional map modes and where necessary we further refined balance, e.g. by adjusting spawn height, AA accuracy and cap zone positioning. The in-development aircraft game mode Enduring Confrontation was also further refined, with hour-long battles now starring even more ground targets and mobile front lines.

Gameplay has also seen further improvement with the introduction of new mechanics such as updated sights for ground vehicles and a replacement system for crew members, which was finalized with particular attention to player feedback.

Besides trying all the new content, players were able to participate in the aptly named ‘Operation S.U.M.M.E.R.’ to gain four unique Premium vehicles for free, whilst fans of competitive play and eSport could participate in tournaments such as the Contender Cup or the ongoing ‘Summer Maneuvers’ series. With this much to do, we really wonder where these dog days of summer have gone to this year!

All in all, it was a great couple of months - and the coming ones will be no different. Follow our news, check out our YouTube channel, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and be sure to not miss anything that’s happening!

See you on the battlefield,

The War Thunder Team