From attempts to fool the other team by Dressing as the Enemy and the potential of friendly fire on markerless modes to the fact that the majority of these vehicles are premium vehicles ( Bribing Your Way to Victory for some), they're quite controversial. For example, the P-47D from the US tree is available for both the Germans and the Soviets, the Germans have access to Soviet T-34s and the Japanese can use German Bf 109 E-7s and American F4U Corsairs. Some vehicles from other nations are available in the tech trees, as either captured vehicles from enemy nations or lend-lease vehicles from allies. Some players feel it detracts from the experience, others don't mind or enjoy the greater variety of scenarios. This frequently leads to bizarre scenarios, such as Italian and Japanese planes fighting Soviets over the D-Day Normandy beachheads, East and West Germany planes fighting together on the same team over Korea or Japan Self-Defense Forces tanks battling US tanks on Kursk.

One example is the matchmaking in the Realistic mode, which frequently eschews realistic match-ups and scenarios in favor of quick battles and shorter queues. With different parts of the player base seeking different levels of realism, it's not easy to agree on what are considered Acceptable Breaks from Reality.

War thunder b 29 cockpit