Money
What “free to play” actually costs
Before you read on
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Both games are genuinely free to download, free to install and free to play to the end of any tech tree. They are also built around a shop that is very good at its job. This page explains what is sold, how the pressure to buy is created, and what your rights are if you do buy.
What is earned and what is sold
The four things the shop sells
1. Premium account time
A subscription, sold by the day, month or year, that multiplies the credits and experience you earn from every battle. It is the single most cost-effective purchase in either game if you play regularly, and it is also the purchase the high-tier economy is designed to make you want.
2. Premium currency
Gold in the tank game, doubloons in the naval game. Bought with real money and used for conversions, cosmetics, and some purchases. Small amounts are handed out through events; the overwhelming majority is bought.
3. Premium vehicles
Vehicles sold outright, usually in bundles with currency and consumables. They earn more credits per battle than their tech-tree equivalents, which is their real function: they are how players fund high-tier play. Many of them have never had a research path and cannot be earned.
4. Randomised containers
You pay a known price and receive an unknown reward drawn from a published pool. This is the mechanic that deserves the most caution.
On randomised containers
Loot boxes are a contested category in EU consumer protection, and several member states have taken regulatory action against specific implementations. Wargaming publishes drop probabilities for its containers, which is more than some publishers do. Our advice is simple and boring: decide your maximum spend before you open the shop, and treat the contents as worth nothing. If that feels hard to do, that is exactly the reason to do it.
Where the pressure comes from
Neither game blocks you. The pressure is economic and it is concentrated in three places:
- The top of the tech tree. Repair and ammunition costs at the highest tiers can exceed the credits an average battle earns, so playing there without a premium account or a premium credit-earner means grinding at lower tiers to pay for it.
- Time-limited events. Marathons and seasonal campaigns offer a vehicle for free if you complete a demanding set of missions within a window — and sell the remaining progress if you run out of time.
- Bundle framing. Offers are usually presented as a package with a headline discount against a total you were never going to pay.
None of this is hidden or unusual for the genre. It is worth naming because the standard marketing line — “free to play, not pay to win” — is technically defensible and leaves all of the above out.
Your rights as an EU consumer
This is general information, not legal advice, and your national law may give you more.
- Right of withdrawal. Under EU consumer law you generally have fourteen days to withdraw from a distance contract. For digital content supplied immediately, that right is lost once supply begins with your express prior consent and your acknowledgement that you lose the right. In practice, clicking through the purchase confirmation in an in-game shop usually does exactly that.
- Refunds outside the withdrawal right are at the operator's discretion, under its own published policy. Both games run refund policies of their own; check the operator's support pages.
- Purchases made by a child without the account holder's authorisation may be recoverable. Contact the operator's support first and keep a record.
- Spending controls. Payment-level controls on the console or app store, and card-level controls at your bank, are more reliable than in-game limits.
- Misleading commercial practices are prohibited across the EU. If a shop offer is presented in a way you believe is misleading, your national consumer authority is the place to raise it.
Who you are actually buying from
You are not buying from krasoven.online. Any purchase is a contract between you and the game's operator, on the operator's terms. We are an independent publisher with no ability to process, refund or cancel anything. If you need a refund, contact the operator's support directly.
Practical advice
- Play for a month before spending anything. Both games are long; the offers will still be there.
- If you decide to spend, premium account time is almost always better value than a vehicle bundle.
- Set a monthly figure and stick to it. Write it down somewhere outside the game.
- Treat randomised containers as entertainment you have already lost the money on, or skip them.
Try it free first
You can reach the middle tiers of any branch, learn the mechanics and decide whether the game is worth money to you without spending a cent.
Play World of Tanks freePartner linkPartner link to the World of Tanks offer. If you register through it we may earn a commission from the advertiser; it costs you nothing extra and the game remains free to play. How we are funded
Sources
- Wargaming legal documents, including the EULA, terms of service and payment terms: legal.eu.wargaming.net
- Wargaming player support, including the current refund policy: eu.wargaming.net/support
- European Commission — consumer rights on digital content and the right of withdrawal: Your Europe: guarantees and returns
- In-game shop pages, which publish container drop probabilities and current prices.
Published 21 September 2026 by Karen Lee. Prices, offers and refund policies change. The operator's own published terms prevail over anything written here.