War Thunder News

The War Thunder Championships Series (WTCS) starts now! The first Major of Season I is none other than the Titan 5x5 Realistic Battles (with markers), a mixed format that brings together some of the most modern vehicles in the game. Whether you’re a seasoned pilot or tank fan, this tournament is for you! You’ll need to create a versatile roaster of 8 players and come up with the best strategies on each map. Without further ado, let’s check out the lineup, maps, date and prize for this first Major!

[h2]Tournament Dates[/h2]
After each Open qualifier, four teams will qualify for the Play-Off phases. For more information, be sure to check out the War Thunder Esports in 2025: The Beginning Of A New Era news that describes everything in detail.

[h3]Open Qualifier I: April 19th-20th at 15:00 GMT
Open Qualifier II: April 26th-27th at 15:00 GMT
Play-Offs: May 3rd-4th & May 10th-11th at 15:00 GMT[/h3]

[h2]The Line-Up & Map Pools[/h2]
Here’s the line-up that will be used for Open Qualifier I & II. It will be exactly the same for the Play-off phases.

Please note that there will be no map bans during the Open Qualifiers. All maps will be selected randomly. However, for the 8 Qualified teams, a map ban will be set up for the Play-offs!





[h2]Tournament Prizes[/h2]
For each Open Qualifier, there’s a total of 86,400 Golden Eagles, plus Research Point & Silver Lion boosters and Premium Account time!

Here’s a detailed list of the Major’s prizes:



[h2]Live Streams with Twitch Drops![/h2]

[h3]When: Each stream will start from 14:45 GMT.

Open Qualifier I Stream: April 19th and 20th
Open Qualifier II Stream: April 26th and 27th[/h3]

During the live broadcasts throughout the two weekends of the Open Qualifier matches, you can receive boosters and premium account time from Twitch Drops. Make sure to stay tuned for the Twitch drops prizes during the Finals!

There’s a variety of broadcasts in different languages to give you the best experience in English, Russian, German, Polish, and French.

Login to your Twitch account → link your Gaijin account → click “Allow” to be able to receive Twitch Drops!

[h2]Giveaways on Discord![/h2]
During the WTCS Titan Major, join the Official War Thunder Esports Discord server to hang out with like-minded competitive players and take part in major giveaways that include the following packs:

• F/A-18С Early Pack
  
• Harrier T.10 Pack
  
• Type 74 Red Star Pack
  
• Marder CLOVIS Pack
  

The Esports team wishes you the best of luck for the qualification phases. May the force be with you!

[h2]Aircraft[/h2]

• Tornado GR.4 — a bug where text keys were displayed on the HUD in the cockpit when selecting AIM-9 missiles and BOL countermeasures has been fixed. (Report).
  
• F/A-18C Early — a bug where target acquisition of any target by the targeting pod prevented seeker activation of AIM-7P missiles has been fixed. (Report).
  

[h2]Ground Vehicles[/h2]

• A bug that led to desynchronization of the position of moving ground vehicles has been fixed. (Report).
  
• The following changes will, among other things, result in the sound on ground vehicles becoming more consistent, stable and predictable overall, in particular, it should no longer be the case that ground vehicles at distances of up to 215 meters, which are behind obstacles, do not make engine and track sounds:
  
  
  
  • The principle of absolute detection of enemies in ground vehicles has been changed. The "absolute detection" parameter no longer depends on the level of the vehicle crew's "Keen Vision" skill and is equal to the value that was previously the maximum for a fully upgraded “Ace” crew — 215 meters (for vehicles with the "Improved Optics" modification, this parameter is 280 meters). This parameter is responsible for the range at which information about enemy vehicles is transmitted by the server to the client, regardless of whether the player sees the vehicle or whether the terrain or objects in the location interfere with this. The change has been made for transparency — despite the fact that the parameter was described in the crew's “Keen Vision” parameters, its presence, its impact on the game, and connection with sound in cases where the vehicle is out of direct line of sight were not obvious.
    
  • A bug where the sound of the engine and tracks of a scouted target might sound from greater distances than the engine and tracks of a target detected in other ways has been fixed.
    
  • The theoretical radius of audibility of the engine and tracks of ground vehicles has been reduced from 400 to 215 meters. In fact, this did not noticeably affect audibility in combat since previously, due to volume settings, vehicles further than 215 meters could only be heard in ideal conditions (in silence) along the line of sight, while behind obstacles, vehicles could be heard at a distance of more than 215 meters only due to a bug with the increased range of sound playback for scouted targets.
    
  • These changes, among other things, will lead to the fact that now information about enemy ground vehicles will appear on the client either at a distance at which the sounds of the engine and tracks are just beginning to be played (with minimum volume), or even at a greater distance (in the case of vehicles with the "Improved Optics" modification), which will eliminate abruptly appearing sounds of engines and tracks of ground vehicles.
    
  • The ranges of the sounds of gun shots have not undergone any changes and are still always reproduced if the shot occurred within a radius of 2 kilometers.
    
  • A bug where enemy engine sound could disappear behind obstacles, leaving only the sound of the tracks, has been fixed.
    
  
  
  

[h2]Naval Vessels[/h2]

• A bug that caused the turrets to not adjust fire to the crosshair in Naval Arcade Battles and instead fire at the same location on the enemy ship has been fixed. (Report).
  
• A bug that caused modules in the X-ray on coastal fleet vessels to sometimes disappear in test sail has been fixed. (Report).
  

[h2]Sounds[/h2]

• The volume of sound of a critical angle of attack has been reduced for all modifications of the F/A-18, as it could have been too frequent, hence annoying.
  

Patch notes reflect only key changes, meaning they may not include a complete list of all improvements made. Additionally, War Thunder is constantly being updated and some changes may not require an update. Changes reflected in patch notes are formed by taking reactions and requests of the community from the bug reporting service, forums and other official platforms into account. Bug fixes and changes are implemented in order of importance, for example a game-breaking bug will be worked on and implemented sooner.

The scenes captured from “The Great War” special event looked great! Hopefully, you managed to keep a few of the vehicles as rewards to play with in the future. Buildings are looking even better with the graphical updates! Got a favorite hiding spot in a city center? The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

[h2]Let’s begin the 167th edition of our competition![/h2]

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen167. You have time until the 18th of April to submit your screenshot.

After that date, 6 winners will be selected (3 of which will be the highest rated by the community and 3 selected by our judges), each of which receive a reward of 300GE.



[h3]Terms:[/h3]

Your screenshot must include a building or bridge, as well as a player vehicle.
You must add the #WTscreen167 tag (title cannot have any other text in it).
Artists may only win by popular vote once per four screenshot competitions.
• Screenshots need to be compliant with the War Thunder rules.
  
• You need to be the author of the screenshot.
  
• Screenshot needs to be new. You cannot use those which have previously been published or used in other competitions.
  
• We will only accept raw screenshots from the game. You cannot use any editing software nor any other visual enhancements (like Nvidia Ansel filters).
  
• You can use filters and settings built into War Thunder.
  
• You can use the replay functionality built into War Thunder.
  
• Rewards will be delivered to the author's account within 14 working days.
  

[h2]And now, time for the winners of the competition’s 166th edition – The Great War![/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3458531413
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3458496261
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3459076990

[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3460789753
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3458562361
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3458271387

Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

Vasily Matsievich was born on April 13th, 1913. He fought in the Second World War as a squadron commander and shot down 16 enemy aircraft and won another 6 aerial victories as part of a group. For his exemplary performance, he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Towards the end of the war on February 20th 1945, Matsievich received the Spitfire Mk IX and participated in Soviet testing for it.

[h2]The Spitfire Mk IXc (USSR) is temporarily available for Golden Eagles![/h2]
This Spitfire is available for 6,090 Golden Eagles.

[h3]

When: From April 11th (13:00 GMT) until April 14th (13:00 GMT).
Where: USSR > Aviation > Premium vehicles.

[/h3]



[h3]About this aircraft[/h3]

• The Spitfire Mk IXc (Rank IV, USSR) features a good rate of climb and is excellent in turn fighting. This aircraft has two 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons and four 7.7 mm Browning machine guns in the wings, making it great for shooting down other aircraft.
  

April 12th, 1961 was a historical date. On this day, humans made the first space flight. In honor of Yuri Gagarin’s flight, April 12th was already established as Cosmonautics Day in the USSR in 1961, and in 2011 the UN called for this date to be celebrated as International Day of Human Space flight.

[h2]Get the “Cosmonautics Day 2025” decal![/h2]
You can get this themed decal for this day!

When: From April 11th (10:00 GMT) until April 14th (10:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using USSR aircraft at rank III or higher to receive the “Cosmonautics Day 2025” decal!

Additional details:

• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, and [Assault] mode.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → Aviation and Cosmonautics Day.
  
• You can find the decal in the “Holidays” tab in the customization menu.
  

“Cosmonautics Day 2025” decal