In December we learned that 1C Games Studios and the official/unofficial mod group named Team Fusion were working towards an agreement on Cliffs of Dover to provide additional enhancements and additions to the series. That agreement has now been formalized according to an announcement by Jason Williams yesterday.
Team Fusion goes to North Africa theatre
Team Fusion was formed in the ashes of the post release disaster that was IL-2: Cliffs of Dover and from that they were able to modify and update the game enough to make it playable and enjoyable for a large number of players. Their focus has been shifting from fixing Cliffs of Dover to enhancement and adding a new theatre to the sim.
They now become an official development team with the ability to provide official updates to the Steam Store IL-2: Cliffs of Dover release and to launch their first official addon/DLC package expected late in 2017.
The add-on will be focused on the North Africa theater and will update the engine to DirectX 11 and include new airplanes, a new map and other content and improvements. There is a possibility that other theaters will be developed in the future pending the outcome of this first add-on. More information about the North Africa add-on will be made public in the coming weeks.
The agreement provides access to the game engine source code so they are also talking about DirectX 11 engine updates and VR support.
IL-2: Cliffs of Dover and the forthcoming add-on will be sold on the Steam store and through the 1CGS maintained il2sturmovik.com website store.
Works in progress
Thanks to Team Fusion developer updates we’ve seen examples of work they are doing with the P-40C, P-40E, Bf109F, Bf110, Spitfire Vc and more.
The team also recently released screen shots showing their efforts to make the Gladiator Mark II a flyable type in the sim. The cockpit shots are impressive!
EDIT: A YouTube video clip has also been posted showing the Gladiator in action!
What about IL-2: Battle of Kuban
With 1CGS signing this agreement some may wonder what will happen with IL-2: Battle of Kuban? The short version is everything is going ahead as planned. Battle of Kuban is developing at a great rate and is on schedule for release late in 2017 while the Team Fusion team will be working independently.
The two game engines aren’t compatible either so don’t expect them to become compatible any time soon. These two products will continue on independently.
Featured Image Source: Team Fusion
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