Choose War Thunder
Choose War Thunder if you want a Massively Multiplayer and Free To Play game with MMO, VR Supported, and Adjustable Text Size. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. 308,911 Steam reviews back the pick.
War Thunder vs Warplanes: Battles over Pacific
War Thunder and Warplanes: Battles over Pacific both land in Action, Simulation on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Action, Simulation on Steam. War Thunder (2013) is 10 years older than Warplanes: Battles over Pacific (2023). Both sit near 74% positive on Steam (War Thunder: 308,911 reviews, Warplanes: Battles over Pacific: 98). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Warplanes: Battles over Pacific
Choose Warplanes: Battles over Pacific if you want the Tracked Controller Support and VR Only side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Warplanes: Battles over Pacific launched in 2023.
Both War Thunder and Warplanes: Battles over Pacific sit in Action and Simulation on Steam and both list Multi-player, Online PvP, and Online Co-op, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (74.1% vs 74.5% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 War Thunder |  Warplanes: Battles over Pacific | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2013 | 2023 |
| Genres | Action, Simulation, Massively Multiplayer, Free To Play | Action, Simulation |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | Free to play | 19.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 74.1% positive (308,911 reviews) | 74.5% positive (98 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op |
| Developers | Gaijin Entertainment | Home Net Games |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Simulation on Steam.
- War Thunder (2013) is 10 years older than Warplanes: Battles over Pacific (2023).
- Both sit near 74% positive on Steam (War Thunder: 308,911 reviews, Warplanes: Battles over Pacific: 98).
- War Thunder is free; Warplanes: Battles over Pacific is paid (19.99 USD).
- Both support cooperative play.
- War Thunder is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Warplanes: Battles over Pacific has no Deck rating yet.
War Thunder vs Warplanes: Battles over Pacific — FAQ
- Should I play War Thunder or Warplanes: Battles over Pacific first?
- If you want chronology, War Thunder (2013) came out before Warplanes: Battles over Pacific (2023). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are War Thunder and Warplanes: Battles over Pacific similar?
- They overlap on Action, Simulation on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Do both War Thunder and Warplanes: Battles over Pacific have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: War Thunder ships Online Co-op, Co-op; Warplanes: Battles over Pacific ships Online Co-op, Co-op.
- Is War Thunder free?
- Yes — War Thunder is a free-to-play Steam title. Warplanes: Battles over Pacific is paid (19.99 USD).
- Does War Thunder run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — War Thunder is rated Deck Verified by Valve. Warplanes: Battles over Pacific doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.