DCS World has received a new update today bringing us up to DCS 2.9.10.4160. The update contains moderately sized list of bug fixes aimed at various modules and is also bringing with it the launch of DCS: Iraq map in early access. Let’s have a look!

Iraq map early access

Eagle Dynamics has rolled out a second map for 2024 and it’s the long expected Iraq map. Like with Afghanistan before it, the map is broken up into a couple of pieces and in early access is only detailed in some parts of the map.

The map is reportedly 320,000 square kilometers of detail area in the north right now and the total map area is expected to be 1,800,000 kilometers square. Eagle Dynamics have put together a map showing off what the northern and southern sections look like (or are planned) with the additional airports and airfields planned to be added in the north highlighted in orange.

As with Afghanistan, the northern sector can be purchased on its own or you can purchase the full map. Eventually when the southern sector is released you can purchase that one separately too or if you bought the whole thing you’ll get the updated sector when it launches. Everyone can fly the same map with areas outside of the one you own appearing with low detail objects.

During early access, Eagle Dynamics expect to add more airbases, more terrain details, and additional points of interest.

There’s also a note saying that the team doing Afghanistan is different from the one doing Iraq and other core DCS updates.

The staff assigned to the Iraq map would not be applicable to other tasks like the DCS Core, aircraft, AI, and other aspects of DCS. Likewise, the team creating the Iraq map is not the same as the one developing the Afghanistan map. As such, creating the Iraq map does not impact the development of other aspects of DCS.

This has been a point of contention and concern with DCS: Afghanistan having released earlier in the year and not having seen any significant updates since. The concern in the community is of course that a new map has been released while the other one is still being worked on. Hopefully both maps will progress at a reasonable rate.

Read the full FAQ on the map here. Interested in buying DCS: Iraq? It can be purchased on the e-Shop or on Steam.


25 responses to “DCS: Iraq lauches together with new update”

  1. Wish this came out before Afghanistan. I’ll buy this once Afghanistan is out of early access, not a moment before.

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    1. Yeah I hear that. Afghanistan and Iraq together offers somewhat similar visual experiences. Tough to justify both. Especially with Afghanistan not progressing as fast as I had hoped.

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    2. I should stop reading forums. The more I hear from people who bought Iraq, the more I get a bad case of FOMO. Maybe it’ll mistakenly fall into my cart on the next sale when I’m planning on getting the KA50. Sometimes I wish I was still married so I had someone to hold me accountable. But then again… naaa.

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      1. I’m probably going to give it a miss for now but it does seem like the better buy versus Afghanistan though I do want to spend some more time there too.

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  2. Have to hand it to the team working on Iraq, it looks good. I just can’t personally justify anymore EA titles for awhile. I’m already in over my head. by current count, going off what is labeled on the ED website as EA, I have purchased 14 titles that are in EA at the moment, with 8 of those being ED titles.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J8AwRq4aFk&t=13s

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  3. It looks exactly like Halfganistan

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    1. It’s certainly more urban but the art style does give it a similar look for sure.

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  4. Still waiting for the Steam discount to kick in.

    Do you get the whole map but only the north in HD, or just the north and no south at all?

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    1. Only the northern section has been developed. If you buy the whole thing, you’ll get the south later.

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  5. Okay, thanks. I thought the south might have be included but only in fuzzy low detail until fixed up in a few months.

    I know we’re waiting for the Halfghan map to get upgraded, but is the Kola map also waiting for sections to get the HD treatments?

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    1. Oh included that way. Yes I believe that part of the map is “there” but relatively empty just like Afghanistan.

      Kola is continuing to get updates. It’s a little less focused on a map position and seems more like they are attacking things feature by feature. It has improved a few times this year.

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      1. The Kola was in an instant favourite for me. Top 3 for sure. But I thought it was divided into sections for the HD treatment like the Afghan map; north, south, east. west, and all that. Or am I having a senior moment? 🙂

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      2. It was not divided so…. Maybe a senior moment? ☺️ Sorry!

        It was Afghanistan that was the first to get the specific geographical breakdown release model.

        Kola we got “everything” but a ton of stuff still needs to be developed.

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      3. A-Ha! Only a partial senior moment. 🙂 Just checked the ORBX page at the DCS forum:

        “Our plan is to deliver updates within geographic subareas, given the large distances involved, rather than widely dispersed features.”

        https://forum.dcs.world/topic/348149-dcs-kola-faq/#comments

        And the map is divided, so to speak, into four areas. I knew I saw something like that.

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      4. Ohhh gotcha! Not like how ED is doing it but with some geographic areas… maybe it was me having the moment 😉

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  6. At least we’re old enough to have a drink and celebrate our minds still somewhat working. 🙂

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  7. I understand why everyone is asking for a ‘green’ map, but Iraq has so many well-known and well-documented battles and stories that make it incredibly rich in potential for missions and campaigns. It fits perfectly within DCS! That said, after this addition, I think we’ll have enough maps covering this part of the world.

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    1. Yes. That potential based on the volume of historical events was why I skipped Afghanistan but held out for Iraq coming out instead as I too reckon it’ll be the more fertile ground for mission content.

      I still wouldn’t mind a new ‘green’ map though (maybe something like a Cold War era Germany or the Balkans), although the Iraq map continues to demonstrate some of the inherent limitations that remain for modelling dense urban areas.

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  8. I just don’t have the disk space at the moment. Maybe later. Looks really good, though.

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  9. There are so many Near East maps. It feels really excessive, especially since we still don’t have Vietnam / Indochina / South China Sea areas.

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  10. I think we need a Korean Peninsula map, in fact two versions of it – Korean War and Present Day. We already have aircraft for it such as the MiG-15 and F-86F, and these ones lack a map of where they fit in best.

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  11. MP servers are dead, campaigns few and far between. There’s really no reason to buy the maps anymore unless you plan to fly on your own or with a crew/clan.The market is extremely over saturated. Caucasus and Syria are the only ones you need basically and the more maps they put out there the bigger the issues will get. All unfinished, all empty and no content coming. I’ve bought all maps but Iraq is where it ends for me. It’s an interesting area historically but I can’t really justify the cost of a map plus campaign to MAYBE get to fly a Highway of Death mission with the A-10 in Iraq.

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    1. It’s been a rough year for DCS fans. What do you think we could see in 2025 that might turn things around?

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  12. For anyone on the fence, as I was, this might help you decide.

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    1. That is absolutely stunning! Feels like BBC’s Planet Earth series.

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