Today's changes to ToS: new language on AI training, account-sharing, "review bombing"
A lot of people got a request to re-agree to ToS today. Just thought I’d review the most recent changes in the document for those who click through this stuff, comparing it to the last edit from June, 2025:
1. section 2.2 (Age Verification) is greatly expanded. New wording:
Verification and Age-Based Features*. Gaijin may, at its sole discretion or or where required by applicable law, require the User to verify their age or provide information reasonably necessary to determine the User’s age or age category. Gaijin may also receive age-related information from third-party platforms, distributors or service providers where such information is made available. Gaijin may use such information to:*
- verify the User’s eligibility to access or use the Service(s);
- determine whether parental or guardian consent is required;
- enable, disable, restrict or otherwise tailor access to certain Service(s), features or functionality based on the User’s age;
- apply age-appropriate safety measures; and -comply with applicable law. If the User fails to complete any required age verification process, fails to provide any information reasonably requested for such purpose, or is determined to be ineligible to access all or part of the Service(s), Gaijin may suspend, restrict or terminate access to the relevant Service(s) or features in accordance with these Terms.
2. section 3.5 (Ban on Account Sharing). An explicit line against account-sharing has been added: “Each Account is personal to the User and may not be shared with or used by any other person.”
Further, the ToS also details what Gaijin can make you do to prove you’re not account-sharing:
3.5.A. Gaijin may, at its sole discretion, require the User to complete reasonable security measures in order to create, access, recover or continue using an Account. Such measures may include identity verification, age verification, email verification, multi-factor authentication, secure device verification or other reasonable security procedures. Gaijin may temporarily restrict access to the Account or the relevant Service(s) until such measures have been completed to Gaijin’s reasonable satisfaction.
3. section 4.1 (use of Gaijin IP) adds a clause specifically prohibiting use for AI training without permission. “For clarity, this license does not permit the use of the Service(s), Game(s), or any related content, data, or materials for AI training, machine learning, database creation, model development, or similar purposes, unless expressly authorized by Gaijin in writing.” (repeated in greater detail in section 4.3.5)
4. section 8 (User conduct): New user conduct prohibition added to the list of don’t dos: “8.1.4. Circumventing or Manipulating the Service(s). Circumventing, manipulating or otherwise misusing the intended operation of the Service(s), including their mechanics, matchmaking, ranking systems or other functionality, in order to obtain an unfair or unintended advantage.”
5. section 12.3.2 (Dispute Resolution). Arbitration authority for USA and Canada changed from American Arbitration Association (the non-profit) to National Arbitration and Mediation (the company) and the stipulation arbitration for players in those countries has to take place in California has been removed.
6. EULA, section 3.2.3 (Malicious Use). Paragraphs on bots and third-party software amalgamated and expanded into:
use or attempt to use prohibited software, hardware or other technical means that automate gameplay, alter the Game(s) or their functionality, bypass technical restrictions or anti-cheat measures, provide an unfair advantage, or otherwise compromise the integrity or intended operation of the Game(s). This includes, without limitation, cheats, hacks, bots, macros, scripts, unauthorized modifications, spoofers, device emulators and virtual machines used to circumvent anti-cheat measures, DMA hardware and firmware, hardware identity modification tools and similar technologies;
Code of Conduct (which also prohibits this) has also been updated with similar more specific language.
7. EULA, section 3.2.11 (Bypassing Sanctions). New section added to the EULA explicitly forbidding going around sanctions that have been imposed on you as a player:
3.2.11. Bypassing sanctions. All Players are expected to respect the decisions made by the Administration. A Player must not attempt to evade, circumvent or interfere with a sanction, including by creating or using another Account, using an Account controlled by another person, concealing or altering device identity, using hardware or software spoofing tools, or employing any other technical or organizational means to regain access.
The matching Code of Conduct language (which already prohibited this) has also been updated.
There are also some additional changes to the Code of Conduct document of note:
8. Ban on account selling made more explicit. Language added: “Trading, selling, purchasing or otherwise transferring an Account may result in a temporary or permanent Game(s) access restriction, including deletion of the relevant Account, and is not limited to a Mute”
9. Ban on discouraging others made more explicit. Language added: " organize or participate in coordinated attempts to manipulate ratings or reviews of the Game(s) or related Service(s) (“review bombing”), or otherwise disrupt the Game(s) or its community."
10. Permanent muting removed. Conduct Code violations used to have “permanent Mute” as the worst thing that could happen to you in terms of being muted in-game/on forums, etc. That has now been changed on the worst offence worthy of a mute to “365 days.” Note this is different from a temporary or permanent game ban, which they can also still impose if the conduct offense is serious enough.
11. Misuse of complaint system change. New option for misuse of complaint system added to the existing options of temporary or permanent game ban. Now they can also (for a lesser offence): “Misuse of the complaint system may result in a temporary or permanent restriction on the Player’s ability to submit complaints.”
12. Griefing language change. Added to the things that count as griefing now (on top of the usual blocking, team killing, etc): “interfering with [other player] objectives or otherwise deliberately hindering their participation.”
13. New restrictions on virtualized environments. New section explicitly prohibiting use of virtualization to circumvent anticheat: “Restricted Technical Environments. Access to War Thunder sessions protected by the kernel-level anti-cheat system may be restricted if the Game(s) client is operated through virtualized environments or other technical configurations that are incompatible with, interfere with, or circumvent Gaijin’s security or anti-cheat measures. Players must not attempt to bypass such restrictions or disguise the nature of the execution environment. Any such attempt may be treated as circumvention of the anti-cheat system and may result in penalties applicable to cheating, including a permanent Game(s) access restriction.”
14. New restriction on collusion. New section explicitly prohibiting collusion with opponents. “Circumventing or Manipulating Gameplay. Circumventing or manipulating the Game(s), their mechanics, matchmaking, battles or intended operation for personal gain or to obtain an unfair advantage, such as by colluding with opponents or other Players.”
Privacy Policy Changes. Last big document that was changed today is the privacy policy. Lot of little changes, it’s a very extensive rewrite, just two I’d say are worthy of interest:
15 What data anti-cheat can collect specified: The new privacy policy details what personal data COULD be collected as part of anti-cheat efforts. (It does state elsewhere data for anti-cheat purposes is NOT retained for the majority of player):
Anti-Cheat Data. Our anti-cheat systems automatically collect and analyze technical data from your device to detect cheats, hacks, and other unauthorized software. This may include your IP address, game-related identifiers (such as your in-game name and account ID), hardware and device identifiers (such as device IDs, serial numbers), information about your operating system, information about game-related and operating system files and memory, information about running processes, services, drivers, applications, and other executable code relevant to cheat detection, limited visual data related to the game environment (such as screenshots), and file names and file paths associated with the above, which may incidentally include personal information such as your operating system username.
16 Removal of other users as people who are entitled to see your data: The following section of the privacy policy, stating what parts of your personal data is publicly shared with other users, has been removed entirely. Take that fwiw.
Gaijin Users*. Other users of our Services may see some of your data when certain Services features allow for it. For example, your username, avatar (profile photo), and your linked account data (such as Steam, PSN, Apple Game Center, Google Play, Xbox account), which are visible to other players They can also view any content you publicly share within our Services and social network communities (such as public messages, uploaded files, etc.), as well as some of your game results (including in-game ratings, leaderboards, and achievements).*
(reposted from the War Thunder forum)