How to get sponsored by War Thunder: who it actually pays, from 265 channels

War Thunder is one of the most recognisable sponsors in YouTube gaming. Gaijin Entertainment's vehicle combat game turns up in the middle of videos about Minecraft, retro tech and military history as often as it does in videos about War Thunder itself. That makes it look like a brand any gaming channel could land.

The data says it is more selective than that. We looked at every sponsored video in our index from the last 12 months that named War Thunder as the sponsor and counted the channels behind them. There are two very different ways to work with War Thunder, and which one fits depends almost entirely on your size.

War Thunder sponsored 265 channels, and most of them were big

In the last 12 months, 265 distinct YouTube channels published at least one video sponsored by War Thunder. The median channel had 771K subscribers.

Only 25 of the 265, about 9%, had fewer than 100K subscribers. The smallest had 2.1K. Compare that with NordVPN, where 24% of sponsored channels are under 100K, or Saily at 27%. For paid integrations, War Thunder is buying reach.

It is also a one-off buyer more often than a recurring one. Only 13% of the channels it sponsored ran a second War Thunder video in the year. The exceptions are telling: PhlyDaily, a channel built around the game, and the Linus Media Group channels (Linus Tech Tips, TechLinked and ShortCircuit), which run it as a recurring read.

It pays gaming channels, but not only War Thunder channels

Gaming accounts for 163 of the 265 channels. The rest are entertainment (35), education (21), automotive (8) and a long tail that includes collectibles and tech. The big names on the list include JuegaGerman, Jazzghost, ChuuyMine, Caylus and The Game Theorists, none of which are War Thunder channels.

That is the key point about the paid side. War Thunder buys attention from general gaming and curiosity audiences, the kind of viewer who might download a free game after a funny integration. It does not need your channel to be about tanks.

The audience is mostly English-speaking. By country, the largest groups were the United States (105 channels), the United Kingdom (36), Canada (18) and Australia (12), followed by Brazil (11).

Recent examples you can inspect, all from channels under 150K subscribers and all carrying YouTube's paid-promotion disclosure:

• Wackawackamun (149K): I Tested Mini Gadgets, October 2026.
• GarrusPlay (84K): Bungie necesita un MILAGRO para Marathon, October 2026.
• 100 Dias Hardcore BR (65K): Sobrevivi 100 Dias no Minecraft Bedrock Parte 2, August 2026.

Notice what those three have in common: none is a War Thunder video. The integration sits inside a gadget test, a Destiny commentary and a Minecraft survival series.

The free route: Gaijin's content creator partnership

Separately from paid integrations, Gaijin runs a content creator partnership for channels that make War Thunder content. It is on the partnership page of warthunder.com, and the requirements published there are modest:

• A channel dedicated to War Thunder on YouTube, Twitch or TikTok, with War Thunder content for several months.
• On YouTube: at least 1K subscribers and 1K views on long-form videos, or 5K views on Shorts.
• On Twitch: 500 followers and 20 average viewers. On TikTok: 25K followers and 10K views.

What you get is not cash. Accepted creators receive a one-time pack (in-game currency, 30 days of premium account, a unique title and decoration), access to vehicles, early access to news, a contact at Gaijin and the chance to be featured on official channels. Gaijin decides the extent of the benefits based on your views and engagement. Applications are reviewed by hand, only selected applicants hear back, and the form says plainly that applying does not guarantee a place. Players on the official forum report long silences, so treat it as a door that opens slowly.

The program is still worth joining if War Thunder is part of your channel. A partner contact at Gaijin is the shortest path from free benefits to a paid integration later.

How to approach War Thunder, by channel size

Under 100K, War Thunder content. Apply to the creator partnership first. Keep publishing War Thunder videos while you wait, because the review looks at your recent content and average views. Paid deals at this size are rare: 25 channels in a year across the whole index.

Under 100K, general gaming. The partnership is not for you, and paid deals are unlikely. Spend your pitches on brands that buy at your size. Our list of brands that sponsor small YouTube channels is a better starting point.

100K and above, any gaming or curiosity niche. This is where War Thunder spends. Look at the channels your size it has sponsored on the War Thunder brand page, note the formats they used (a 60-second mid-roll in a variety or challenge video is common), and pitch a specific upcoming video rather than your channel in general. Our guide to pitching sponsors has templates.

Any size, check the timing. Between 16 and 43 channels ran a War Thunder sponsorship in each full month of the year, and the busiest months were March and April. The game ships large updates several times a year; a pitch tied to an upcoming update gives the team something specific to promote.

For the short version with the latest examples, see how to get sponsored by War Thunder.

Method

We counted distinct YouTube channels with at least one video in the last 12 months (to October 2026) that our index attributes to War Thunder as a sponsor. Sponsors are detected from public video descriptions and YouTube's paid-promotion disclosure through the official YouTube Data API. Each channel counts once. Subscriber counts are current, not at the time of the video. Niche and country come from our channel classification and are missing for a minority of channels. The creator-partnership requirements come from Gaijin's partnership page as published in October 2026 and can change. This is research, not an endorsement of the brand or a statement about what it pays.