War Thunder revamps esports scene with new championship series

Gaijin Entertainment, the developer of military shooter title War Thunder, has revamped its esports scene with the launch of a new professional league for its 2025 season.

Known as the War Thunder Championship Series (WTCS), the circuit will feature four Major events taking place throughout the calendar year.

Detailed in a release, each Major will run for eight days and is split into qualifiers, playoffs and the final. All of the Majors will use a double-elimination format.

Before a Major, two weekends of open qualifiers will take place. The top four teams from each qualifier will earn a spot at the Major, with the first event taking place at the end of May.

In addition to details on format, War Thunder has named Thrustmaster and Hercules as the event’s partners.

Unlike other esports titles, each Major will feature a different format with varying team sizes and a different set of vehicles.

Released in 2013, War Thunder is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) free-to-play military game that focuses on vehicular combat.

In February 2024, the game set a new all-time concurrent player count record with over 250,000 players loading into matches.

The creation of the WTCS is the first time War Thunder has featured a dedicated esports circuit. In 2024, it hosted its Air Superiority tournament which was won by Team DODEC.

The opening Major of the WTCS will use a five-versus-five mixed format designed to ‘challenge the versatility of players’ competing. Tanks and planes will play a prominent role.

Major 2 is scheduled for the end of July and focuses on War Thunder’s arsenal of tanks. Instead of five-versus-five, a four-versus-four-format will feature. Similar to Major 1, this event will also feature matches contested over a best of five.

The third Major will is set for October. Named Air Superiority, the four-versus-four event will exclusively feature the game’s selection of planes.

To conclude the inaugural WTCS season, the Thunder Cup takes place at the end of December and will include all of War Thunder’s vehicle categories.

The entirety of the WTCS will be broadcast on the War Thunder esports Twitch channel.

While the events are taking place, viewers will have the opportunity to participate in giveaways and earn drops.