Is Gaijin Sacrificing Tech Tree Uniqueness for Player Retention and Profit?

Game Discussion General Discussion
1

I believe Gaijin is deliberately reducing the uniqueness of individual tech trees in favor of making popular vehicles available across more nations and maximizing commercial returns.

The simultaneous introduction of the Leopard 2A8 to both Germany and Sweden is a clear example of this strategy.

I see four main reasons behind this decision:

1. Player retention

Swedish players can now experience the latest Leopard 2A8 without switching to Germany. This keeps players invested in their existing tech trees rather than losing interest because their nation lacks the newest vehicles.

  1. Lower development costs

The German Leopard 2A8 and Norwegian Leopard 2A8NO share a similar platform. Gaijin can reuse much of the modeling, physics, and armor data. Essentially, one development effort serves two tech trees.

  1. Increased revenue

Players from both nations now have another top-tier vehicle to research. Some will purchase premium accounts, Golden Eagles, or premium packs to speed up the grind. Gaijin even promotes premium vehicle packs for both nations in its official announcements.

  1. Maintaining top-tier competitiveness

If Germany received the Leopard 2A8 while Sweden remained stuck with the Strv 122B+, Swedish players might feel neglected. Releasing both versions simultaneously helps avoid that frustration.

But I see a major problem with this strategy.

Historically, one of the biggest attractions of War Thunder’s national tech trees was the unique characteristics of each nation’s tanks.

Now, more and more nations are receiving variants of the Leopard 2, M1 Abrams, and other shared platforms.

The result?

  • National tech trees gradually lose their unique identities.
  • Players have less incentive to grind other nations.
  • Top-tier battles increasingly become fights between different versions of the same few tank families.

I also believe that a significant number of War Thunder players primarily play just one nation, or perhaps two or three.

There are three main reasons for this:

  1. The grind is extremely demanding.

Researching an entire ground forces tech tree from low tier to top tier takes a huge amount of time. Most casual players simply cannot afford to grind multiple nations to the top.

  1. Strong national preferences.

Some players love German tanks, while others prefer Soviet or American vehicles. They have little interest in switching nations.

  1. Investment creates loyalty.

Once players have invested significant time and money into a particular tech tree, they are more likely to stick with it rather than start over elsewhere.

2 Likes
2

yes, i think youre right about almost everything here tbh

but one more thing to add

not exactly gaijins fault that so many nations use the leopard 2a4 or m44 or whatever, and then people do tend to ask for representation of their own nation in warthunder a lot, so we end up with gaijin adding like 5-6 m44s at the same time so that they dont have to add any at a later point

overall it ends with gaijins decision on this matter being pretty reasonable

3

Fair point. I agree that Gaijin isn’t responsible for so many countries using the same tanks in real life.

But I think there’s a difference between historical accuracy and good game design.

I have no problem with different nations getting their real vehicles. I just hope Gaijin can find ways to keep each tech tree interesting and unique.

Otherwise, what’s the point of grinding multiple nations if they all end up playing almost the same?

4

Anyway, as someone who plays both Germany and Sweden, I probably won’t spend money grinding both Leopard 2A8s. It just feels too repetitive.

Even though I love the Leopard 2, I don’t want my entire lineup to be full of them.

5

No shit Sherlock xD

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6

Glad we agree, Sherlock. xD

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7

I miss the time gaijin was adding a new tree every 2 years

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8

To add to this, the developers have walked themselves into a bit of a corner here because each tree is too long to reasonably grind as a casual player, and by extension the whole game is too onerous for even the most dedicated players

Their solution is copy paste, while it really should be a revamp of the subtree system

9

Same here. New tech trees were much more exciting than getting another Leopard 2 variant.

10

they still fundamentally dont play the same though, each tech tree is still composed on primarily unique vehicles, and almost always will be

also i believe bvvd or someone important did explicitly state like >5 years ago that the endgame for each player is when theyve gotten all the vehicles in a single tech tree, so gaijin tries to make each tech tree have as much variety within itself as possible

why would you do that anyway?

again, not exactly gaijins fault, its kinda the only tank a lot of nation use in its many variants and upgrades

11

Exactly. Instead of fixing the endless grind, Gaijin just keeps adding similar vehicles across different nations. As someone who plays 7 nations, I find it harder and harder to justify grinding what is basically the same tank again.

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12

Israel have been added in 2020…the game feel boring now

Most of my ground trees are 12.0

13

Same here. I play 7 nations, and most of the new top-tier vehicles just feel like more of the same. I really miss the excitement of grinding something completely different.

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14

Yes 😭

15

Wat? Sweden haven’t received a new top tier MBT in eons. That’s quite possibly the worst example you could’ve picked.

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16

That’s fair, but my point isn’t that Sweden shouldn’t get a new MBT. It’s that we’re getting more and more variants of the same tanks across different tech trees. I play both Germany and Sweden, and I’d rather see more variety than another Leopard 2 in both lineups.

Sweden should be getting the Strv 123, not a Norwegian Leopard 2 thrown in just to fill the gap.

1 Like
17

If all of Europe is going to use Leopard 2s, we might as well just have a European tech tree at this point.

18

me if i completely forgot ranks 1-5 exist in this game

19

Japan is getting a BMP-3 and a Fairey Firefly, this is completely ignored instead everyone cries from their bum over an Israeli F-15EX and a Swedish Leopard

nations that already had an F-15s and Leopards for years but now it’s sacrificing tech tree uniqueness

20

I don’t understand the hate really. The entirety of low to mid tier is mostly unique (except China, but they also have the most unique top tier). And it is impossible to have top tier withput some repeats. Unless we want 1 tank type for every nation, we have got to do some repeats for variety.

And even with repeats, they commonly are in the form of a unique version with some differences

1 Like