War Thunder is a free combat game with models of real planes, ships and war tanks that lately is becoming more known for the fanaticism of its users than for what it offers. And it is that, for the third time in less than a year, a player has leaked classified military design schemes to try to win a discussion in the video game forums.
On this occasion, a player with access to secret Chinese People’s Liberation Army technical manuals posted design schematics of a Chinese tank in an attempt to improve the vehicle’s in-game stats. According to another playerthe images showed that the developers of War Thunder they had incorrectly modeled a portion of the tank in question, but the Chinese player had exaggerated the size of the machine gun and the speed of the turret, which would have given him an unfair advantage.
The images were removed from the forums War Thunderand the game’s developers, Gaijin Entertainment, confirmed to my box that the user was vetoed. “Information regarding this particular tank is still classified in China,” Gaijin wrote. “The publication of classified information regarding any vehicle of any nation in the forums of War Thunder it is expressly prohibited, and the game developers never use it in their work.”
Kotaku had followed the two previous cases. In july 2021:
The July case involved a player arguing on the in-game forums regarding the depiction of the UK Challenger 2 main battle tank. To resolve the disagreement, they published what was essentially the tank manual, which was sheer stupidity, especially considering that the UK Ministry of Defense was quick to get involved.
Only three months later:
This latest case involves a player discussing on the in-game forums the rendering of France’s Leclerc main battle tank. To resolve the disagreement, they posted a portion of what was essentially the tank manual, leading forum moderators to wonder what the hell is up with these personas.
“While we understand that our players want the game to be as realistic as possible,” Gaijin wrote, “we kindly ask that you not do anything illegal or endanger their safety, as well as the safety of our community administrators.”