The gap between what has been announced for War Thunder and what is being repeated as fact is unusually wide here.

Short answer

Announced, dated, and subject to the usual slippage — plan around the window rather than the day.

  • Leave space for the day-one patch.
  • Note the time zone on any announced time.
  • If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. Day-one patches are now large enough to plan disk space around. Store listings occasionally leak dates before the announcement and are usually accurate when they do.

Where the rumours came from

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Pre-load timing is announced separately from release timing. Announced windows slip more often than they hold, particularly the ones given a year in advance. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

Deluxe editions bundle cosmetics and early access, and rarely anything that affects the game. Roadmaps describe intent, and intent is revised. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

Platform differences at launch

Regional release times differ by enough to matter if you were planning an evening around it. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

  • Treat a leak as a leak until it is confirmed.
  • Expect the first fortnight to be patch-heavy.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.
  • Check what an edition includes before paying for it.

What has actually been confirmed

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

What to expect after release

Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

Editions and what they include

If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

Where people go wrong

  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.

War Thunder FAQ

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Is this still accurate after the latest War Thunder update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Work through it in the order above and new update stops being a question you have to look up again.