The Future of War Thunder: Beyond the Screen

Game Discussion General Discussion
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hear me out on the long term vision for War Thunder. The game has moved way beyond just being an indie project on a screen, it’s a massive global ecosystem now. But to truly scale it to a multi-million player title and compete with the absolute biggest games out there, some serious strategic adjustments are needed.

First, let’s address developer communication. Right now, the disconnect between the devs and the community is creating a lot of friction. A highly effective step would be implementing a structured, monthly or yearly review video where you break down the top community suggestions. Explain the acceptance criteria and the reasons for rejection. If a player’s idea gets implemented, send them a direct profile notification. You could even integrate an interactive dev-blog screen into the hangar UI to broadcast these updates. Transparency like this builds immense player retention and stops the endless cycle of duplicate spam threads.

Now, about marketing, tbh it feels severely underutilized right now. I’ve seen exactly one War Thunder ad on YouTube my whole life, and it looked like a low-budget script reading over a generic trailer. If you want real market penetration, you need to sponsor top-tier Twitch streamers outside the existing WT bubble and run high-impact billboard campaigns during major updates. If the Iran tree ever becomes a reality, targeted advertising in the Middle East is a strategic must, it’s a massive untapped market that is currently being ignored.

Furthermore, your physical brand expansion is almost non-existent. The recent success of the Snail Plushie proved there is a market for real-world items. Imagine high-quality scale models of iconic tanks, premium apparel, or experiential events like official WT airsoft arenas or tank driving parks. These aren’t just fun ideas, they are highly profitable brand extensions that generate massive PR.

Finally, you are missing out on a goldmine by not cross-promoting your own games. You have Enlisted and Crossout, but zero synergy. Offering a discount code for Enlisted to a player who just bought a premium tank in WT is basic business logic. It funnels players between your own titles and grows the overall company ecosystem.

You have the best vehicle combat game in the genre. It has the potential to be a global phenomenon, not just a niche game. You just need to scale the vision. What do you guys think? o7

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youve only seen one WT ad on youtube?

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Have you actually seen war thunder cinematics? Their budget seems to be 49% music, 50% trailers, 1% game?

I have a feeling this game will always be able to bring in new players with little effort anyway. If anything, WT has a monopoly on “simulation” vehicle battles that have simple controls and gameplay, and new players will always give money to feel like they are John Abrams.

Beyond what they already offer, it can be hard to get more physical anyway. The plushie they just released is essentially the only OC (unless we see Senrai maidens plushies, and physical versions of the in game dakis), and scale models have been taken over by 1,000,000 international companies that sell kits for every imaginable vehicle (who knew I could get a model Breguet 693?).

The best I can think would work is by pulling an Umamusume and start sponsering rather niche events and implementing something that can attract a larger audience.

They already have tapped into WW2 history stuff with advertisements (I learned of this game from a WW2 magazine ad), and that on a larger scale could bring in more people.

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Fr. The algorithm keeps making mistakes and thinks I want to see even more war thunder than I already do when I actually play the game

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This would be like encouraging Soviet citizens to play Germany during the Battle of Stalingrad.