EDIT: Positive changes have been made, will update again if they ♥♥♥♥ it up again

I will update this review if/when any positive changes are made.

TLDR: Earning currency and progressing down a single nations research tree gets exponentially more difficult as you progress, making late game and almost impossible grind. I cannot in good faith recommend a game that punishes you for playing it.


I know Gajin must monetize a F2P game, but they have continually alienated their long time players with this and previous economy updates. For new players, there is little to no change.

However, once players reach early to mid cold war era, the game becomes exponentially more grindy. The cost of researching new vehicles, researching upgrades for existing vehicles, and the cost VS reward of using said vehicles has made progressing a Herculean task.

For new players and/or the unaware; After every match you earn a certain amount of RP (research points) & silver lions (main currency) based what you do in the match. After the match, everything is totaled up, and you get you RP & SL.

HOWEVER: Every vehicle has a repair and rearm cost. If your vehicle sustains no to very minor damage, this costs very little SL. If your vehicle is destroyed however, these cost much more SL.

That is the context for the two major complaints myself and others have.

Complaint 1: Entering into upper mid to high tier, the rewards (SL) for doing well are only slightly better than they are at lower tiers. Gajin have however, made the repair costs much higher for each higher tier tank and aircraft. This may not sound *too* bad, but in practice it means that if you are getting dumpstered by the enemy team, you dont make ANY SL.

In fact, in these hard rounds, you loose SL.

You can actually have your SL be in the negatives.

Complaint 2: The RP cost for researching new tanks, and modifications for owned tanks is incredibly high. When you buy a new tank, you have no modifications. This, again, may not seem that bad.

HOWEVER: The first two modifications are the ability to repair a damaged tank, followed by the ability to extinguish fires. This means a new tanks lifespan in round is very very short. Combine the difficulty of researching these important modifications, with the cost of repairs, and you will regularly be losing SL until you manage to research and purchase the critical modifications.

This is absurd and is Gajins way of forcing players to buy a premium account, and premium currency. As I said at the top of this review, I understand that Gajin must make money to keep this game alive, but this is not the way to do it.

On the off chance that someone at Gajin is reading this, my personal recommendation is this:
You have many nations to play as, and at least two research trees for every nation. That is a lot of content to explore and experiment with. Encourage players to reach high tiers in several nations, and add late tier premiums that offer much better rewards for both RP & SL.

People love the gameplay of war thunder, but you are driving old players away, and scaring off potential new players with this horrendous economy.

EDIT: Positive changes have been made, will update again if they fuck it up again I will update this review if/when any positive changes are made. TLDR: Earning currency and progressing down a single nations research tree gets exponentially more difficult as you progress, making late game and almost impossible grind. I cannot in good faith recommend a game that punishes you for playing it. I know Gajin must monetize a F2P game, but they have continually alienated their long time players with this and previous economy updates. For new players, there is little to no change. However, once players reach early to mid cold war era, the game becomes exponentially more grindy. The cost of researching new vehicles, researching upgrades for existing vehicles, and the cost VS reward of using said vehicles has made progressing a Herculean task. For new players and/or the unaware; After every match you earn a certain amount of RP (research points) & silver lions (main currency) based what you do in the match. After the match, everything is totaled up, and you get you RP & SL. HOWEVER: Every vehicle has a repair and rearm cost. If your vehicle sustains no to very minor damage, this costs very little SL. If your vehicle is destroyed however, these cost much more SL. That is the context for the two major complaints myself and others have. Complaint 1: Entering into upper mid to high tier, the rewards (SL) for doing well are only slightly better than they are at lower tiers. Gajin have however, made the repair costs much higher for each higher tier tank and aircraft. This may not sound *too* bad, but in practice it means that if you are getting dumpstered by the enemy team, you dont make ANY SL. In fact, in these hard rounds, you loose SL. You can actually have your SL be in the negatives. Complaint 2: The RP cost for researching new tanks, and modifications for owned tanks is incredibly high. When you buy a new tank, you have no modifications. This, again, may not seem that bad. HOWEVER: The first two modifications are the ability to repair a damaged tank, followed by the ability to extinguish fires. This means a new tanks lifespan in round is very very short. Combine the difficulty of researching these important modifications, with the cost of repairs, and you will regularly be losing SL until you manage to research and purchase the critical modifications. This is absurd and is Gajins way of forcing players to buy a premium account, and premium currency. As I said at the top of this review, I understand that Gajin must make money to keep this game alive, but this is not the way to do it. On the off chance that someone at Gajin is reading this, my personal recommendation is this: You have many nations to play as, and at least two research trees for every nation. That is a lot of content to explore and experiment with. Encourage players to reach high tiers in several nations, and add late tier premiums that offer much better rewards for both RP & SL. People love the gameplay of war thunder, but you are driving old players away, and scaring off potential new players with this horrendous economy.