Sometimes, the quest for realism in games can go a bit too far, as demonstrated by a War Thunder player who broke the law trying to get their favorite tank buffed. The game's forums were briefly thrown into chaos as moderators quickly dealt with the situation.
War Thunder is a war simulation game allowing players to take control of a vast selection of real tanks, helicopters, and planes to battle in massive maps. The game strives to feel accurate while still being fun to play, but occasionally slips up in true-to-life accuracy.
A player on the War Thunder forums who claims to have served as a real-life Challenger 2 challenger and gunnery instructor wanted the War Thunder tank buffed, and presented excerpts from what appears to be internal military documents not normally accessible to the general public. The discrepancy involves the armor enclosing the main gun, providing the tank with an in-game disadvantage.
The developers at Gaijin Entertainment have been informed by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence that the documents are indeed real military information, and that they have not been declassified. This means the player who posted the documents has violated the Official Secrets Act and could possibly be imprisoned for up to fourteen years.
Shocking as it might seem, breaking the law to alter games is sadly all too common in gaming; DDoS attacks on the Titanfall 2 servers have been an ongoing problem recently. However, leaking classified military documents is certainly an unexpected turn of events. The reasoning behind why the player would risk legal action to have a unit buffed is unclear.
A community manager for War Thunder has made clear that the game will not be changed as the documents show, at least not until the documents are officially classified. If the game were changed, employees at the company would also likely be considered in violation of the Official Secrets Act, so the choice to forego extra realism and avoid a prison sentence seems like the smartest move here. This is a difficult situation for the developers and community team working on War Thunder, and it makes sense that it is being handled with extreme care.
Leaking government documents is an unexpected development, but of all the games it could happen with, it makes sense that War Thunder would be the one with its focus on realism in designs. After all, the vehicles in War Thunder are modeled after real-life military hardware. Still, the actions of the leaker certainly caused a stir in the community, and it is fortunate that the community managers were able to put most fears to rest quickly.
War Thunder is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
