War Thunder Details Planned Battle Rating Changes for Late August
Battle Rating sets matchmaking brackets, so even small shifts change which vehicles meet and how uptiered a lineup feels.
Gaijin Entertainment has outlined a new round of Battle Rating changes for War Thunder, its combined-arms vehicle combat MMO, as part of the studio’s regular review of where aircraft, tanks and ships sit in matchmaking. The planned moves were posted on the game’s development channels in August 2026 for community feedback before they go live.
Battle Rating, or BR, determines which matchmaking bracket a vehicle falls into, so a change of even a fraction of a point alters which vehicles can meet in a battle and how often a lineup is “uptiered” against stronger opposition. Gaijin runs these reviews every few months, using aggregated battle statistics to decide which vehicles are over- or under-performing at their current rating. Per the studio’s development posts, this pass touches a mix of popular top-tier jets and several ground and naval lineups.
The BR review follows the recent “Heavy Cavalry” major update, which added vehicles across multiple nations, including new Abrams variants and a US battleship, and reworked the visuals of some ground maps while keeping their layouts. Gaijin has also said a reward mechanic for abandoning a disabled tank or ship, already trialled for aircraft, is being extended to ground and naval battles.
War Thunder is primarily a PC game, with Windows and macOS clients, and it has a sizeable community using flight sticks, throttle setups and VR. BR shifts land hardest on those players, since many grind toward specific vehicles over long stretches and a rating change can move a favourite into a tougher bracket or open an easier one. Gaijin typically collects feedback on a proposed list for a week or two, then publishes a revised set before applying the changes in a patch, so the announced numbers are a starting point rather than final.
What this means for players
- Check the published BR list against the vehicles you are grinding before the changes go live.
- A lower BR is not always better: it can mean facing newer opponents that outclass an older vehicle.
- The changes are still in the feedback stage, so the final numbers may differ from the announced ones.
- The abandoned-vehicle reward extending to ground and naval battles is a separate change tied to the next major update.
