- Start
- Aug 15, 201390% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
War Thunder Launches on Steam as a Free-to-Play Game on 15 August 2013
- War Thunder arrived on Steam as a free-to-play download on 15 August 2013, with Gaijin Entertainment releasing a Steam-only content pack alongside it; the game was already in open beta, which began on 1 November 2012 for Russia and 28 January 2013 worldwide[1][2][5]
- It had passed Steam Greenlight in February 2013, and Gaijin's CEO Anton Yudintsev said the Steam community's support helped it get approved, noting more than 3 million players in the open beta at the time[3][5]
- War Thunder is a free-to-play, cross-platform military MMO covering aircraft, armoured vehicles and naval craft from the early 20th century to modern units; it left open beta with its official release on 21 December 2016[1][2]
- It won Best Simulation Game at the Gamescom 2013 Awards, and Steam charts later showed more than 25,000 concurrent players in 2019 and a record of over 250,000 in February 2024[1]
- On Steam's most-played chart for the week ending 2 October 2026 it ranks 13th, with a peak of 84,009 concurrent players; Steam shows an 81 Metacritic score[2]
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References 590% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 90%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 5 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Thunderen.wikipedia.org· Posted Oct 3, 2026· Starts Aug 15, 2013 ✓· 50% of score
Steam's store page lists 15 August 2013 and Wikipedia gives the same date citing it; DSOGaming[5] published Gaijin's announcement that the game was now available on Steam on 15 August 2013. PCGamesN[3] and StopGame[4] covered it a day later. The game itself had been in open beta since November 2012.
- [2]90%War Thunder on Steamstore.steampowered.com· Added Oct 3, 2026· 50% of score
Store page: release date 15 Aug 2013, free to play, Gaijin Entertainment developer, Metacritic 81.[1]
- [3]80%War Thunder now heard on Steam - PCGamesNpcgamesn.com· Published Aug 16, 2013· 0% of score
Confirms the Steam arrival, Greenlight pitch in January and approval in February 2013, and the Steam Pack.[1]
- [4]70%War Thunder popala v Steam - StopGamestopgame.ru· Published Aug 16, 2013· 0% of score
Russian-language report of the Steam arrival, a day after the 15 August announcement.[1]
- [5]85%Free-To-Play War Thunder Is Now Available Via Steam - DSOGamingdsogaming.com· Published Aug 15, 2013· 0% of score
Published 15 Aug 2013: Gaijin announces the game is now on Steam for free with a Steam Pack; CEO quote; 3 million open-beta players.[1]
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