War Thunder launches the 1.53 Firestorm update

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Press release:
War Thunder Raises Visual Benchmark With 1.53 ‘Firestorm’ Update, Destructibility Improvements, New Maps and First British Tanks Gaijin Entertainment today announced that its award-winning MMO WWII online game, War Thunder, will be introducing a host of new and upgraded features in a forthcoming update for War Thunder’s 10 million players to enjoy.

War Thunder is starting to implement an improved version of its engine, known as Dagor Engine 4.0, and part of this is physically based rendering. War Thunder has always prided itself on its unrivaled attention to detail, even going as far as to correctly interpret the way light interacts with objects within its environment, including the diffusion and reflection of light on shiny and opaque surfaces and materials, such as wood, steel, rubber and glass. In short, it means that War Thunder will look even more realistic than ever before.

Another part of the improved engine is the integration of NVIDIA GameWorks technologies. NVIDIA PhysX Destruction aids War Thunder’s quest for increased realism by enabling the introduction of larger destructible objects to the game: wall fragments, ruins and entire buildings will all react to in-game ballistic physics. Players now have the ability to destroy enemy’s cover or create new firing positions, changing dynamics of tank battles.

The inclusion of NVIDIA WaveWorks technology generates incredibly realistic waves and foam for oceans, seas, rivers and lakes, which will also factor wind direction and strength. All of the maps in the game will benefit from this addition, aerial and ground combat ones alike.

Anton Yudintsev, CEO of Gaijin Entertainment, notes: “War Thunder is a multiplayer game available on several different platforms, so we can’t limit new tech only to PC-users or owners of powerful GPUs. These new features aren’t just about improved visuals only, but affect gameplay as well. For example, if one player destroys a wall or entire building, it should vanish for all other players in the same battle. Likewise, water and waves not only look spectacular, but also interfere with landing and taking off for hydroplanes. The team at Gaijin is very proud of the NVIDIA GameWorks integration in War Thunder, and it works for every user regardless of platform or PC specs.”

“The passion for beautiful games that NVIDIA GameWorks Effects Studio engineers share with the artists at Gaijin has resulted in the stunning real-time effects that scale across multiple platforms — whether it’s on the latest GeForce-equipped PC or a game console,” said Keita Iida, senior director of global content management at NVIDIA. “The destructible buildings and lifelike water effects are absolutely mind-blowing.”

The name “Firestorm” for update 1.53 comes from the introduction of a deadly set of new multiple rocket launcher systems: namely, the American M26 Pershing tank with mounted T99 system, the German Panzerwerfer 42 and Russian BM-24-8. These vehicles provide a formidable barrage of high-explosive rockets and continue to expand the armored vehicle design variation in the game.

Fans anticipating British tanks will rejoice, as an initial set of four exclusive vehicles become available: the A13 Mk II, the Sherman Firefly, the M10 Achilles and the A43 Black Prince Infantry tank. The main British Ground Force line-up will appear in War Thunder later.

In total, there are over 20 new vehicles in update 1.53, including the amphibious Soviet tank PT-76, Cold War-era Jagdpanzer 4-5 and, eagerly awaited by fans, the top-range British jet fighter the Hawker Hunter.

Finally, two new ground combat locations were added, a winter map of the Stalingrad tractor plant district, which has been painstakingly reproduced based on real photographs taken during the bloody battles for the city and “Advance to Rhine,” based on late-war Cologne with its towering cathedral and maze-like streets that will provide the optimum challenge for urban warfare.

There are many more improvements and features in this update, of course. To see a detailed list, please visit http://warthunder.com/en/game/changelog or the developer’s blog at http://warthunder.com/en/devblog/.

About War Thunder
War Thunder is a free-to-play, cross-platform, massively multiplayer military masterpiece for PC, PS4, Mac, Linux and Android with more than ten million players worldwide, that allows players to fight their way across air and ground with access to over 600 of historically accurate planes and armored vehicles from WWII and Korean War. Fans can expect hundreds more added as Gaijin Entertainment commits to ongoing development via regular updates. For more information, please visit http://www.warthunder.com.

About Gaijin Entertainment
Gaijin Entertainment is the developer and publisher of the online games War Thunder and Star Conflict, as well as PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, iOS and Android titles across several genres. The company’s diverse portfolio has received a range of mass media and game industry awards, including KRI Awards, Gamescom Award and many more. Official website: http://gaijinent.com