War Thunder, the free-to-play multiplayer combat game, is getting more literally boots-on-the-ground with a new infantry mode called Line of Contact as announced yesterday. And no, this doesn’t mean a new ‘capture the flag’ gamemode. Since its release in 2012, the game has exclusively concerned itself with historical military vehicle combat, and boasts hundreds of planes, helicopters, tanks, and ships for players to blow up each other in. The realism of which is a major point of attraction for military history nuts, who make up a fair portion of the game’s fan base. This is to the point where the developers’ detailed, “carefully crafted” vehicle models aren’t enough for some–with community members allegedly leaking classified military documents to correct perceived inaccuracies with War Thunder’s tanks a few years back. Developers Gaijin Entertainment have seemingly decided to shake up the vehicle formula, and will be adding infantry gameplay into the mix. This pivot to include first-person-shooter mechanics in a vehicle-based game over a decade in the making is a bold choice, but it may shape up to be an excellent addition to the game.

Before full implementation, the infantry mode will be tested in a closed beta that players can apply to participate in. According to the official dev log, playtesters will have access to infantry in both arcade and realistic variants of “Domination”, and the first stage of this will only take place on a new contemporary Eastern European map called Granitograd. The map features three points of interest to contest, fully fleshed out interior spaces to fight in, and armored vehicle spawns for each team.

Interestingly, although infantry players will control their soldier like they would in any FPS game, they will each take the role of a squad leader, and have AI teammates they need to organize and command. Players will be able to customize their squad’s weapons and equipment, and deploy new tactical trump cards like the infamous explosive FPV drones that have seen use in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Vehicles, although still present, are warned to be “vulnerable” in Granitograd’s close-quarters setting, so players will have to coordinate their team’s infantry and armor to compensate for the others’ weaknesses. I can very easily see a team’s tank overextending into several squads’ territory only to meet a swift and fiery end by a flurry of RPG rounds flying through the dark windows of surrounding buildings. Which isn’t something that’s ever been possible before in War Thunder, but it will be soon.