The year is nearly done and I’m going through the state of the simulation for different titles in the genre. I did a big one on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 earlier in the month and now its time for a big round-up of combat flight sim titles. DCS World, IL-2 and Combat Pilot are the big ones that I focus on here on Stormbirds and each of them has had some interesting moments through 2025 so let’s look at some highlights and do a bit of speculation on the year ahead.

DCS World

Year in review

A bunch of things happened in 2025 for DCS World reflecting the up and down nature of how this sim has evolved over the year.

Some of the less encouraging items were items like news that three Russian helicopters had to be withdrawn from the storefront for Russian fans over licensing issues. The withdrawl of RAZBAM modules as that dispute went on. Check Six Simulations bowed out of development for DCS: Top End of Australia and the PC-9/A due to internal issues.

There was good news as well! The launch of the Quick Action Generator (which IMHO still needs a lot of work), the release of DCS: C-130J and DCS: MiG-29A Fulcrum, moving the DCS: Kola and Normandy 2.0 maps out of early access, and the launch of Ugra Media’s latest map masterpiece: DCS: Cold War Germany.

We also had a bunch of assets added to the core of the sim giving us new and revitalized ground units including tanks, armored vehicles, and SAM sites. Of course there were also releases of new campaigns and tons of multiplayer activity. All of that will certainly help scenario builders and campaigns so I love to see it.

I’m really excited by the addition of the C-130 in particular as it opens up new gameplay possibilities both in single and multiplayer. So far, I’ve been treating it like an MSFS airliner but I do want to do more ops with it once I get a better feel for the aircraft. I have to say that I’ve developed or redeveloped a soft spot for the MiG-29 as well. It’s a capable aircraft sure, but its just so much fun to fly. It doesn’t have big fuel tanks so that fun is short lived, but it is terrific fun.

Upcoming content

We’re still waiting on an official roadmap for the new year as well as the traditional DCS World and Beyond cinematic, however, we can make some guesses at how things are going.

I suspect that 2026 will be the year that the F6F Hellcat and the Pacific Asset pack arrive. We’ve got our first taste of that already with the Corsair and Marianas WWII but its just a taste. They’ve been working for years on Pacific assets and this coming year might see that finally arrive.

For third parties, we’re looking to some interesting releases as well. Grinnelli Designs have been steadily plugging away at the DCS: F-100 Super Sabre and it sounds like this module has a good chance of coming out in 2026. With the project tracker now saying 86% and the aircraft having been shown off at FSExpo, maybe things will move along well for a release.

Similarly, I think this year may be the year that the DCS: MiG-17 by Red Star Simulations and the G.91 from IndiaFoxtEcho make their appearances. Both projects have been progressing for quite some time now and they look to be in pretty good shape given the various status reports and updates.

I think too that 2026 may be the year that Aerges complete their set of Mirage F1 variants with the F1M. The modernized version has been in the works for a long time (together with the F-104) and I have high hopes that we might finally see it.

Octopus G looks set to launch the DCS: La-7 in early 2026 with a trailer suggesting as much. An A6M Zero is allegedly in the offering as well, however, that one has been a bit of a ghost over the course of several years so I’ll believe that when I see something considerably more tangible (a functioning cockpit for example).

There’s a lot that I don’t think we’re going to see in 2026 though I expect to see many more developer updates on upcoming projects. I suspect both DCS: F-15C and F-35 will slip into 2027 before they release as projects tend to do. But I am expecting to see status updates on both modules coming up relatively soon.

Dynamic campaign is the thing that is always on the tip of everyone’s tongue and… I just don’t see it for 2026. We’ll have to see how things progress in the long run but I don’t feel like DCS World’s core has seen enough updates yet.

Still, I do think we’ll see at least some of the work on that feature pay off. It seems initially be tied to the Caucasus map, however, Matt Wagner has already confirmed to us that it will be functional for the rest of the maps over time too.

The rumour mill

Some eagle eyed folks have recently noticed in the DCS: C-130’s mission planning section that there appears to be carve outs for maps focused on Korea and Vietnam. Might Eagle Dynamics or a third party finally be tackling these areas of the world? I think that we’ll start to see more on this as Afghanistan and Iraq projects begin to wrap up. An Okinawa WWII map might also make sense given the late war nature of the assets being developed. While there will be unique components to all of these, a move to this part of the world invites at least some shared processes and assets to cover the region’s visuals and it feels like the sim has gradually been building in this direction.

At multiple points over the course of the last year, we’ve seen a couple of confirmations that the Dassault Rafale might be in the works. Some of the sources have included a response by NineLine to a community question as well as partial confirmation in an e-mail from Dassault themselves saying that a MSFS edition of the aircraft is in the works (you can read the latest about that here from AzurPoly) and that a more detailed DCS option was also being planned. If it is confirmed, it’ll be another modern type to finally make the jump into the sim alongside the F-35. The Rafale entered into service in 2001 and I expect that if such a module is on the way that the variant will represent something from this era.

Soviet era aircraft fans have some things to look forward to in the future as well. While reports are that the MiG-29 hasn’t sold as quickly as the F/A-18 and F-16, in an interview with a Russian source and summarized by DCS YouTuber Command T, Eagle Dynamics COO Katia Peredenko, did answer questions on what might come next. A two-seat MiG-29UB was floated but likely ruled out (it has very limited combat capability) but a MiG-29 9-13 (with the enlarged dorsal spine, more fuel and jamming equipment) or MiG-29G (with support for NATO IFF and TACAN) might be possible. A full fidelity Su-25 or Su-27 was mentioned but not confirmed.

In a similar vein, we may start to see some more AI assets added that are more modern. Content that will support the F-35 (and Rafale if that is a thing) adding types like the Su-35 and Su-57. Not flyable, of course, but AI flown to act as adversaries for the F-35.

Matt Wagner has mentioned in yet another interview (this time with DCS YouTuber deephack) that an F/A-18 Super Hornet variant is likely a when and not an if for their team. The F/A-18C is among their best sellers and I can see them wanting to capitalize on that success further. I doubt the community would say no either. Similarly, an AH-1 of one variety or another (perhaps the W variant) has long been rumoured and Matt gave that rumour a bit more credibility during the same interview.

I don’t think we’ll see much of this in 2026 but these are maybe modules that are being lined up for into the future.

IL-2 Series

Great Battles

The tail end of the IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles Series development has been bigger and more impressive than I expected it would be. I was certain that the series would begin to disappear into the sunset, however, 2025 has not been a quiet year for the series at all and 2026 doesn’t look like it will be either.

We’ve seen the release of a bunch of aircraft with the bi-plane I-153, classic Bf109E-4, early models of the Yak-1 Series 23 and LaGG-3 Series 4, as well as the late model Ju87D-5 and the mighty Yak-3 Series 1.

This year also saw the roll out of a significantly updated Western Front map for Flying Circus (with five seasonal variations) and the addition of the Zeppelin! That last one is a bit of a special thing as I know that a functional Zeppelin in the series has been a request that has been made over and over for a decade and a half, dating back to the early days of Rise of Flight, and it only now has happened.

Next year, 1CGS say they are plotting to roll out 6 more aircraft for the series. These will reportedly slot into various campaigns that currently exist. We already know that the Finnish map team are working with experienced third parties to bring the G.50 and B-239 to life and that other aircraft like the Hawk 75 may also come to fruition. Its unclear if any of these are part of the 6 aircraft or something separate.

Korea

The information flow on the next generation of the IL-2 series has certainly ramped up this year with dozens of developer diary entries and video interviews with the team. The overall effect is that we know quite a bit more about the sim, though not quite everything.

We have seen a lot of updates that focus on the individual aircraft, their cockpits, and external features. There’s also been a fair bit of focus on some of the details: people walking around in villages, trains that derail when hit, types of artillery, trucks, and tanks.

All a reminder that 1C Game Studios are keen to provide for an experience that is all encompassing. Some of the visuals and technology is clearly a step forward for the series though the overall look is also quite familiar and it remains to be seen how that will come together in on our own PC’s when the sim releases in 2026.

The pre-order is now on and while the initial sticker shock of the price was surprising, I am encouraged by a lot of what I see with the sim. Will it be a sufficient leap forward to be considered next generation? We’ll have to see!

Cliffs of Dover series updates

I almost had nothing to write in this section, however, Team Fusion Simulations pulled a rabbit out of their hat with a late year update detailing the trials and tribulations of their team. The death of a team member and various other challenges have slowed the team down as they work on their next DLC pack: Fortresses and Focke-Wulf’s. The 1942 era scenario is still in progress and aircraft are being developed and completed but more work will need to be done before that becomes a reality.

High hopes for 2026!

Combat Pilot

The Combat Pilot team has been pretty busy in 2025! Early in the year they revealed that they were moving away from the built in physics engine in Unreal and developing their own system – called EntropyFM to help provide more accuracy and better future proof the sim. This is a pretty big deal for the long term viability of the sim and while a lot of the math and technical aspects are beyond me, anytime I see this or any team thinking carefully about where they want to be, I’m a fan. Jason and his team know where they want to be in a few years and a few years after that and it shows!

Through the year we’ve seen quite a bit of progress on everything from aircraft to ships, to some of the other supporting assets that include ship mounted guns and anti-aircraft batteries to the tiny details like the gauges and instruments on the aircraft. They’ve also decided to tackle a longstanding issue of contention with flight sims by modeling armored glass refraction. There’s a lot of neat things going on here!

Combat Pilot is also making regular updates to their Patreon supported alpha test where the top tier gets access to their test module. Recent updates have started to add in extra details for the cockpits of the F4F and A6M while also improving the UI, the flight model, and virtually everything else.

The sim continues to develop, in part, with support from Patreon members. From the plans laid out, Combat Pilot should really start to come together in a big way as they go into 2026 and a lot of the groundwork laid out over the last couple of years begins to come together. The last update for they year indicates that they hope to release Carrier Qualifications by summer 2026 with an early access launch some time before that. I have high hopes for this sim in 2026!