Those wondering why we hadn’t heard much about the DCS: Eurofighter project for a while will be able to breath easy because the project is very much alive and is now under the wing of one of DCS World’s most accomplished third party developers – Heatblur! The announcement breathes new life into the project and this is what we know about it!

Tacking into the wind

We hadn’t heard much from DCS: Eurofighter developers TrueGrit Virtual Technologies for a while now. The team had impressive credentials and solid talent but noting beats experience and according to the statement made by TrueGrit and Heatblur, the teams came together earlier in the year to work out a new plan and partnership.

I start with a quote from the TrueGrit team from their Facebook page on what happened and what their new plan is.

During the last few months developing the Eurofighter Typhoon we reached a point at which it became clear to us that the complexity of the project, combined with our clear promise to you to deliver nothing but the best, required a change in tactics.

TrueGrit Virtual Technologies

In a statement made on the DCS World forums, Cobra847 from Heatblur also reiterated on the common theme of bringing the teams together and the integration of the TrueGrit team into Heatblur.

Through the completion of our current products and development of our future roadmap, we will always intend to bring you the absolute best in flight simulation. TrueGrit are full of amazing and wonderful people, full of passion and talent; and together we will be bringing you the ultimate rendition of the Eurofighter for DCS World. Immersion and realism are pillars of any Heatblur product, and with TrueGrit as a core part of Heatblur, we intend to reach new heights with the release of the Eurofighter.

Cobra847

The big takeaway is, of course, that DCS: Eurofighter is not dead and that it has reformed under the Heatblur banner. That can only mean good things!

A coming storm

That’s the story behind the change and behind the silence from TrueGrit over the last several months as the team came to grips with the challenges ahead and came together with Heatblur. Now, let’s talk about the hype as Heatblur have now released a new announcement trailer with all of the characteristic flash and excitement that you’d expect from Heatblur.

Heatblur have not yet updated their Public Roadmap with the new announcement just yet but it seems likely that the Eurofighter project is one of their DCS: Next Generation jet titles that they intend to release into early access in 2022. Nothing official has been stated to that effect so you may need to take that one with just a bit of skepticism for now.

Miltech-5 also made a post today in reference to this project as they are responsible for the IRIS-T short range missile model on display in the trailer.

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Future assured?

Many questions have been swirling in the DCS community as of late about the progress being made on this project. A lot of sim fans are eager to try out the Eurofighter Typhoon in DCS World and chances that this project could fail were disheartening for many.

Early progress looked good but the long road through the middle parts of the project where a lot of the less glamorous things need to be done can be difficult. Obviously the team at TrueGrit turned to another experience developer for help and that seems to have blossomed into a new partnership that likely assures the future for this project.

Heatblur have a strong reputation in the DCS World community and are responsible for two extremely well done modules in the sim so far. Both DCS: AJS-37 Viggen and DCS: F-14 Tomcat are among the highest regarded and spend any time with either aircraft and you’ll get a sense of why that is. Bringing that level of expertise to this project only has me more excited for what we’ll see from this team.

Many questions still remain including what decisions have been made on the specific Tranche and upgrade variant of the Eurofighter Typhoon we’ll see, if it will have precision air-to-ground capabilities, and if it will be able to sling the long range Meteor missile. The ultra maneuverable IRIS-T missile shows in the trailer and a brief glimpse of the Meteor appears to be shown in the trailer as well so it’s possible that we will see that configuration. If so, it’ll be a very challenging opponent in DCS World. Even without, the Typhoon is considered an extremely powerful and impressive fighter and it should be a fun ride!