For War Thunder players, it has not been a good year so far for the free-to-play vehicular combat game with the game’s community feeling burned by Gaijin Entertainment, the studio behind War Thunder, and the recent economy changes,
Just what happened for the community to turn on Gaijin Entertainment? Apparently, the devs have made changes to the economy that made it for players to unlock new vehicles by reducing the income of both XP and in-game cash (Research Points, Silver Lions). The backlash from the community got so bad that the developers had to revert the changes and even publish an article explaining how progression and economy works in F2P games (which the community didn’t exactly appreciate).
It’s gotten so bad lately that the community has not only resorted to review-bombing the game on Steam, but also, an in-game strike is in the cards this May 26. There’s even a thread on the War Thunder Player Union subreddit (yes, that’s an actual thing) asking other players to join in protest.
If you’re wondering what egregious changes the studio has made to War Thunder, here’s a quick rundown by Arthur66:
This is a list of terrible things gaijin did over the years
by u/_Arthur66 in WarthunderPlayerUnion
To date, the game is still heavily review bombed on Steam, and now has over 86,000 “overwhelmingly negative” reviews to its name. On Gaijin’s end, the studio has published an apology to the players today admitting they messed up and stating that they will be implementing changes with a more detailed roadmap set to be released on June 14.
Dear players,
Firstly, we would like to extend our sincerest apologies to each and every one of you. We deeply regret the fact that our actions have let you down, and that we have failed to adequately address the concerns you have voiced over time. We share your passion for the game, and it pains us that our decisions have not lived up to your expectations.
Over the past week, we’ve been diligently analyzing the feedback you’ve provided. We acknowledge and agree with your concerns regarding the balance of the economy (Silver Lions and Research Points), as well as modification research. We have therefore prioritized addressing these issues as our immediate concern.
Will this latest communication and planned changes be enough to win the gamers’ trust back? For Gaijin’s sake, let’s hope it is.
Thanks, Alelo!