Modern Warships, not to be confused with World of Warships, has come under fire after an independent artist noticed that their ship design had been lifted without permission and added to the game (thanks IGN). Artstorm, the developer of the PvP online game of naval war, has admitted to the plagiarism, and rather than removing the copied design, is instead attempting to reach a deal with the artist.
Alex Jay Brady is a concept artist who regularly posts their designs to social media, including a 2014 design for an “ekranoplan,” a “ground effect” vehicle, a hybrid surface/air ship-cum-plane that glides just above the water via what mechanical engineers call ‘magic.’ The imagined craft is very clearly the basis for the vehicle Modern Warships recently added to the game, and Brady immediately took to their X account to call this out.
“I did not give @ModernWarships permission to use my ekrano design,” they wrote, “but I have to say she’s looking great. Much more detailed than my sketches.” They add, “Honestly if they’d just asked and sent me some $$$ I’d have had zero issues with them using it. It’s not too late to do the right thing guys.”
I did not give @ModernWarships permission to use my ekrano design, but I have to say she’s looking great. Much more detailed than my sketches. Honestly if they’d just asked and sent me some $$$$ Id have had zero issue with them using it.
Its not to late to do the right thing guys https://t.co/luxN8zsU5f pic.twitter.com/E2K7z3rE9i— Alex Jay Brady 🥶 (@AlexJayBrady) October 5, 2026
IGN asked Brady for more details and was told, “For me the design is the same, with a few minor differences… But as there was never a swing wing ekranoplan carrier (for good reason) and every detail aside from that is carried over from my design, it seems cut and dried.” They added that much of the design is non-functional, including that “the engines wash across the deck, the planes take off backward, not into the wind, I just didn’t know anything about the subject when building it and they cloned all those mistakes wholesale.”
Rather peculiarly, Artstorm responded to Brady in public on X with a full admission. “Fair call,” the developer posted, “and apologies from us. Your design was used as a reference without proper clearance. We’ll contact you directly to make this right.”
Fair call, and apologies from us. Your design was used as a reference without proper clearance. We’ll contact you directly to make this right.
— MODERN WARSHIPS: Naval Battles (@ModernWarships) October 5, 2026
It certainly doesn’t help that buying the ship in the freemium game is enormously expensive. IGN‘s math says it would cost between $50 and $100 in gacha spins, or as much as $700 to buy it outright. And while Modern Warships isn’t exactly overwhelmed with players, there’s a few hundred people in the game at any one time.
It’s also rather striking how much Modern Warships‘ presentation seems to emulate the far more mammoth World of Warships, right down to those familiar fans of ships arranged in promotional artwork.
Given that Modern Warships is published by Gaijin, of War Thunder fame, you’d think there’d be some slightly better measures put in place here. Hopefully Brady will get their bag, but other artists might well want to take a look through the game to see if they’re owed anything.