Release questions attract more speculation than any other kind, so this separates the confirmed from the rest.

Short answer

Nothing official yet, and the confident claims circulating trace back to the same unverified source.

  • Treat a leak as a leak until it is confirmed.
  • Expect the first fortnight to be patch-heavy.
  • 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. Store listings occasionally leak dates before the announcement and are usually accurate when they do. Regional release times differ by enough to matter if you were planning an evening around it.

What to expect after release

There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Day-one patches are now large enough to plan disk space around. Roadmaps describe intent, and intent is revised. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over.

Deluxe editions bundle cosmetics and early access, and rarely anything that affects the game. Pre-load timing is announced separately from release timing. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

Platform differences at launch

Announced windows slip more often than they hold, particularly the ones given a year in advance. 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.

  • Check what an edition includes before paying for it.
  • Leave space for the day-one patch.
  • Keep a save or backup from before you start — it costs nothing and occasionally saves an evening.
  • Trust the publisher's own channels over aggregators.
  • Note the time zone on any announced time.
  • Prefer the in-game option over an external tool when both exist.

What has actually been confirmed

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

Where the rumours came from

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

Editions and what they include

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Where people go wrong

  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • 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.
  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.

War Thunder FAQ

Is there a confirmed date?

Only where stated above, and only from official channels. Anything else circulating is speculation being repeated confidently.

Is the expensive edition worth it?

For cosmetics and a few days of early access, usually not. If it includes future content you would have bought anyway, the maths changes.

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.

Will it be delayed?

Announced windows slip regularly. Treating a date as approximate until the month before is the safe assumption.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.