'War Thunder' Players Apparently Can't Stop Leaking Military Documents

A War Thunder player has leaked military documents for the second time in three months, generating a remarkably high national-security-oopsie-per-month ratio that is frankly stunning for one game's player base to possess.

Last week, a user in the War Thunder forums took issue with the way the MMO military combat vehicle game depicted France's Leclerc Main Battle Tank. To win their argument about minute issues with the way the tank is depicted in the game, the user, claiming to be a member of a Leclerc Serie 2 tank crew, posted a portion of the tank's manual, a classified document that is given to pilots of the tank.

The post was quickly deleted and replaced with a message from someone who sounded like an exhausted moderator reading:

Guys its not funnny to leak classified Documents of modern equipment you put the lives of many on stake who work daily with the Vehicles! Keep in Mind that those documents will be deleted immediately alongside sanctions. Thanks for reading!

Unbelievably, this is the second time the War Thunder fanbase has gone through this exact controversy. In July, a user in a similar argument posted the manual for Britain’s Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank. At the time, a moderator alerted the user:

"We have written confirmation from [the Ministry of Defence] that this document remains classified. By continuing to disseminate it you are in violation of the Official Secrets Act as stated by the warning on the cover of the document, an offence which can carry up to a 14-year prison sentence if prosecuted. Of this you are already aware, as a service person you have signed a declaration that you understand the act and what actions it compels you to take. Every time you post this you place us (international representatives of Gaijin), especially any UK citizens, in hot water as the warning so helpfully states that unauthorized retention of a protected document is an offense."

To add insult to injury for both posters, in addition to violating various government laws, the developers of War Thunder will not take their suggested changes into account. Gaijin Entertainment, who were aware of the leaks, noted the studio doesn't develop off "invalid source material."

"Before any discussion, handling, or bug reports are even made, proof of a document’s declassification will be required as well as where it was sourced form," wrote Gaijin community manager Scott Maynard. "We make it very clear that we will not handle any source material unless it is publicly available and fully declassified with the rights to prove that."