File this firmly in the 'rumour and speculation' file for now.
We recently received a press release from Gaijin Entertainment, celebrating the success that console and PC combat sim War Thunder had amongst press at E3. You can read the press release here if you like. The bit that specifically caught my eye was the following;
"War Thunder was the only game at E3 to have cross platform play working across five different platforms including PC, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 4 and a new unannounced platform, shown only behind closed doors".
What is that unannounced platform? Let's do a little speculating.
From a business standpoint, cross-platform play between PC, Mac, Linux, and PlayStation 4 is fine, as there are no shareholders at any company involved with those platforms who might be upset at its system communicating with another. But if the unannounced platform is Xbox One, the people at PlayStation would be a tad upset to say the least: no way are PlayStation going to let their users compete against players on their competitor's console.
Details of the game on OnLive are already in the wild, so it's not that either, and neither of the handhelds would be a good fit for the game's impressive engine.
Only iOS and Android remain.
We know that Gaijin Entertainment is working on a mobile version of War Thunder, and has been doing so for at least a year, and in the company's own statement on it last year, they noted that;
"The new mobile version of the game gives you an unique opportunity to stay in the battle skies of War Thunder even when you’re away from home"
What's more, this new version is said to support "cross-platform War Thunder for iOS and Android".
We've heard precious little of the game since then, but I'll put good money on this press release hinting at the functionality of the version mobiles and tablets will receive.
If cross-platform play is indeed on the cards for the portable versions of War Thunder, then this could be very exciting stuff. I'd love to play my PS4 and PC friends using an iPad, wouldn't you?
All the above is just a theory of course, so we've reached out to Gaijin Entertainment to provide further comment.
