They wanted a more realistic game. Players “War thunder”, a Hungarian war game where you pilot planes, ships and tanks, you weren’t happy with the design of the virtual machines. To ask the developers to try to get closer to reality, a part of the community leaked official military documents.
According to the Washington Post, “Players of the popular and free-to-play video game War Thunder (…) have published three times secret documents relating to three tanks of British, French and Chinese design.“, from 2021 to 2022. The paper also notes that another player posing as a member of the French Armored Corps posted a manual for the French Leclerc S2 tank.
More fear than harm
All three posts have been removed from the forum. However, no national authority appears to have confirmed the authenticity of the documents at this time. For the Challenger model, British authorities have confirmed only the “top secret” dimension of the documents. The Ministry of the Armed Forces of France did not speak.
But while some information may be sensitive, such as the rotation speed of the tower, it is freely available on the Internet. The Washington Post interviewed defense experts who said the documents were of little importance and their disclosure would have little impact. These are user manuals that are classified as “confidential” but are distributed to anyone who may have some contact with the tank, from the driver to maintenance. These leaks may be of interest if an agent of a foreign power is looking for specific information about a military tool, such as the type of armor.
Studio founder Anton Yudinstev, who also moderates the discussions, explained that moderation followed such exchanges. Gaijin, the creator, reserves the right to ban players who disclose sensitive documents. Before adding that it would be wiser to inform the players so that they understand that any file that does not help to improve the game has no interest in the discussion forum.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.