Happy New Year 2026!

Dear friends!
❄ The year 2025 is coming to an end. ❄ So what changes have happened in War Thunder Mobile for players and developers? Let's take a look back at the most significant events of the past year. ❄

Statistics

• In 2025, the following changes were made to the game and the following important events took place:
• 13 major content updates were released, featuring new researchable vehicles, Big and Medium Trophy vehicles, Battle Passes, and Ranking Seasons. Many new tanks, aircraft, and ships were added to the game.
• The system for receiving rewards in Seasonal Trophies changed – decorators were removed from Jackpots, guaranteed rewards for 50 openings were added, and the chance to get a Jackpot with vehicles was added. The Battle Pass now features infinite levels.
• A Research Tech Tree and the new Rank VI was added to the Ship Campaign.
• The long-awaited Research Tech Tree also appeared in the Tank Campaign – we have moved away from the ready-made platoon system, and players now have the opportunity to make their own setups! At the same time, we have implemented a mechanic for improving crew skills by slots, added rewards for upgrading tanks, and introduced Rank XIII vehicles.
• The Japanese aviation research branch was released.
• Over the course of the year, we added seven new locations: 3 tank maps, 1 naval map and 3 aircraft maps. We also introduced 4 new themed locations: Caribbean Sea, Night Rocks, Winter Alaska, and Winter Poland.
• The Tank and Ship Hangars were completely redesigned.
• Five times during the year, our location artists delighted you with updated Hangar designs for Lunar New Year, Lucky Week, War Thunder Mobile's birthday, Halloween, and Winter Holidays.
• Commanders took part in 25 in-game events, including 8 events with vehicles as rewards. Also, in 2025, four gameplay modes were implemented: Treasure Hunt, Battle Royale, Witch Contest, and Winter Battles.
• Vehicle customization became available – an interface for adding decals to all types of vehicles was implemented.
• In the Aviation Campaign, it became possible to upgrade researched vehicles to their premium version.
• New settings and features appeared:
  — viewing armor protection – armor and X-ray;
  — penetration and armor analyzer;
  — selection of ammo for secondary weapons of ground vehicles;
  — helping allies with repairs;
  — separation of vehicle repair and crew replenishment;
  — display of enemy vehicle names in battle;
  — placing vehicles in slots by “drag and drop” action;
  — new combat awards;
  — various anti-aliasing settings to optimize performance on different devices;
  — saving vehicle presets in Tank and Aviation Campaigns;
  — reset and redistribution of crew skill points;
  — functionality for reporting inappropriate nicknames and unsportsmanlike behavior in battle.
• Interface redesign implemented:
  — buttons and interface elements have been recolored – the colors are now more austere and stylish;
  — transparent buttons can now be selected in battle;
  — information icons in battle have been updated and made clearer – icons for vehicles, bases, airfields, etc.;
  — filters by vehicle type have been added.
• New mechanics have been added:
  — electronic countermeasures (ECM) systems;
  — guided missiles in the ship campaign;
  — anti-submarine missiles and protection against them;
  — alternative controls for all ground vehicles;
  — radars on ground vehicles;
  — surface-to-air missile systems (SAM) with guided missiles.
• Matchmaking conditions were regularly improved, vehicles were rebalanced, and the scoring system in various campaigns was adjusted. The number of rating points awarded for destroying player-controlled vehicles was increased, and the number of rating points awarded now depends on the vehicle's rank.
• Combat effects were updated and improved, new sounds and effects were added, optimization was significantly improved, and the models of many tanks and ships were re-optimized.
• Eighteen videos were released on the game's official YouTube channel.
• At the end of March, the game got its own page on the X platform.

The development team has prepared an announcement of events to look forward to in 2026.

So, what's in plans for War Thunder Mobile in 2026?

Please note that the Q&A is scheduled for mid-January 2026. This article provides only a rough roadmap for the game's development over the next year.

• New branches.
  A number of new tech branches are planned for various campaigns in 2026. According to the plan, early access will be available first, and then the branch will become available to all players:
  — Chinese tank branch.
  — British aviation.
  — Japanese tank branch.

• Clans.
  In 2026, we plan to implement a clan system in WTM. We are targeting Q3-Q4.

• Mechanics.
  Of course, new mechanics will appear in the game in the new year. We don't want to reveal all our plans in advance, but we can already promise that in Q1 there will be alternative controls for turretless tanks and other vehicles which are similarly difficult to orient. Simply put, we are ready to start testing hull auto-turn for tanks with limited horizontal aiming angles. Also, in Q4, there may be an option to block “disliked” maps.

• Events.
  We plan to hold several major events with vehicles throughout the year, including new gameplay events:
  — Lunar New Year
  — First of April
  — WTM Birthday
  — Halloween
  — Black Friday
  — Winter Battles.

• Marathon.
  Similar to War Thunder, we plan to launch large-scale marathons to obtain blueprints for interesting vehicles.

• Subscriptions.
  The functionality of Premium Accounts will be redesigned. Going forward, we plan to launch Subscriptions in Q1 2026. Subscriptions will include all the advantages of Premium Accounts, along with additional bonuses, such as the option to skip watching 20 ads per day, extra gold, and other features. The price of the standard Subscription will differ slightly from the current Premium Account. We’ll give you more details in a special article closer to when this feature launches.

• Offline battles.
  The possibility to test vehicles in Offline Battles will become available to content creators and testers in Q1, and may be opened for all players in a few months.

• Replays.
  We promised to implement replays in 2025, but due to the large volume of more pressing tasks, this task has been postponed to 2026. The functionality requires testing and fine-tuning to be released.

• New maps.
  Several new maps will be added to the game in 2026. In accordance with our plans, there will be at least 6 maps for all modes. We also plan to test larger tank maps, but the dates for when to expect these have not been set yet. It is also possible that improvements will be made to existing maps, ranging from rearranging some objects, adjusting the size and the number of respawn points.

• Balance and Matchmaking.
  We are regularly refining the principle of matching players in battles. In the new year, we have plans to improve the matchmaking functionality, including taking into account squads and clans.

Of course, these are not all the innovations that we have planned. We have decided to keep some of our plans under wraps so that we can surprise you throughout the year.

The ❄ War Thunder Mobile (WTM) team wishes you a Happy New Year in 2026! We wish you a happiness, memorable battles, cool achievements, bright victories in the game, as well as good health and prosperity in life! May luck accompany you in any endeavor, and ❄ War Thunder Mobile keep your fighting spirit!