War Thunder, a popular vehicular combat game developed by Gaijin Entertainment, is currently experiencing a wave of negative reviews that began appearing in the past few days. Unlike The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which also faced review bombs this month, the criticisms aimed at War Thunder cannot be easily dismissed as mere trolling.
The root cause of this backlash can be traced back to recent significant changes made to the in-game economy by the developer. These adjustments have notably reduced the amount of Silver Lions currency that players can earn through regular gameplay. Additionally, Gaijin Entertainment has decreased Research Points rewards as part of the same update, making it more challenging for players to unlock new vehicles without resorting to spending real-world money on the game’s premium currency, Golden Eagles.
The War Thunder community responded vehemently to the economic changes, evident from the staggering number of over 65,000 negative reviews posted by players on Steam since the tweaks were implemented on May 17. This flood of negative feedback far surpasses the ongoing review-bombing targeted at Redfall by a significant margin. Surprisingly, the criticism shows no signs of abating as of Monday, even after Gaijin Entertainment pledged to reverse the controversial alterations.
Sooo economy is trending 😅. Long story short, we plan to revise the game economy in a dedicated update late summer, and wrote a post about it.
Full message: https://t.co/cOpt56BHCg pic.twitter.com/i0PbVvpntC— War Thunder (@WarThunder) May 19, 2023
Although Gaijin Entertainment promised to address the concerns by reverting the controversial changes to the War Thunder economy, some players expressed dissatisfaction with the timing and conditions of the reversal. Instead of an immediate and unconditional reversal, the developer stated that they plan to revise the economy with a mid-summer update while ensuring better communication and transparency in advance.
As a result, many experienced players continue to review-bomb the free-to-play game, claiming that they can no longer afford to repair their vehicles or make progress in researching and purchasing new units. This situation raises doubts about the prospects for beginner War Thunder players to catch up with the constant influx of new content in the game.
The recent developments surrounding War Thunder have sparked concerns about the game’s future as it approaches its tenth anniversary and following its availability on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Despite player demands for immediate adjustments to make the game more accommodating for free-to-play users, Gaijin Entertainment maintains that the extensive size of the game prevents the hasty implementation of further changes. The developer has encouraged all interested players to provide feedback on the current state of War Thunder through a survey, which will be open until May 25th, signaling their intention to consider player input in shaping the game’s future.
