On May 19, 1936, the Armaments Committee launched the Medium Tank T5 program aiming to create a medium tank for the U.S. Army. Based on the existing M2 light tanks and its components, the tank was quickly developed and put into service by 1938 as the Medium Tank, M2. One unique characteristic of the M2 medium is the four machine gun sponsons around the hull, created due to the US Army's infantry inter-war belief in the machine gun being the main weapon to support an assault, with the 37 mm gun only meant to support the tank when facing other tanks. This extends to the point that metal flaps were installed on the rear for the purpose that the rear sponson gunners can shoot the machine gun rounds to "ricochet" the bullets downwards onto trenches as the M2 Medium crosses over them. However, the M2 medium did not see any combat as its design was becoming obsolete in the face of newer tank design. That said, the M2 medium helped lay the foundation to the future M3 and M4 medium tanks

Introduced alongside the American ground tree in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals", the M2 medium tank is the very first medium tank that players can experience in the US tech tree. The 37 mm gun in the turret atop as enough power to punch through enemy light tanks, and the relatively large tank size means that a single penetrating shot is unlikely to completely knock the tank out in one shot. The tank has relatively mediocre armour and slow turret rotation speed, hindering quick target acquisition. Despite these drawbacks, the M2 is quite versatile and can perform well both in offensive and defensive roles.