We’ve got a mix of good news and bad news when it comes to War Thunder, with the good news being that the PS4 and PC Cross Play patch has been approved by Sony. The bad news on this is that, due to a Sony rule, any future updates for War Thunder are essentially on hold, as a member of the War Thunder team explained on the forums:

When Gaijin Entertainment announced War Thunder release for the next-gen PlayStation 4 console, we were going to give pilots using PC and PS4 the ability to play with each other. We are still dedicated to this goal. The game update that will fully synchronize the versions and enable the cross-play function has already been developed and approved by Sony Computer Entertainment. Unfortunately, SOE didn’t finalize its PS4 patching system, and the current one makes its users download all the previously released patches even if we only release a minor one. This basically prohibits us from releasing any new War Thunder content until Sony Computer Entertainment changes this rule. So as soon as the PS4 patching system gets fixed, we will release the update and do our best to make War Thunder the first PS4 cross-play game ever. Best regards, War Thunder team

Asked whether this means there won’t be any major PS4 patches until the issue is fixed, White_bada of Gaijin said, “Yes, quite likely :(. It does not depend on us at this point. And no online game can afford to force its users download the same several Gb of data over and over again.”

White_bada continued by talking about unfair advantages/disadvantages that may pop up when PS4 and PC players play against each other:

They will play the same game. And if we find that certain platform gives its users any advantage, we will do our best to fix it.

The news gets worse for those in North America who have been waiting for the game, as the War Thunder Twitter account confirmed that “it is already released in the Europe (you can play). We are working with SCEA to make it happen in the USA too. No date, sadly.” If you want a reason for the holdup, @WarThunder suggests you “try to politely ask SCEA. I am sure whatever holds it – will be resolved soon.”

We’ll let you know once Gaijin is able to release the PS4 and PC Cross Play patch for War Thunder, as well as when they date the North American version of the game.

Have you played the European version of War Thunder? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.