Part one of a series of updates from Eagle Dynamics on their roadmap plans for 2026 has arrived in the first DCS World Weekend News update for 2026.

Looking ahead

Eagle Dynamics are outlining some of their big items for 2026 (and beyond, let’s be pragmatic here) and its all about core features. I and a lot of you like to talk and ask for more out of core features so here’s a bit of a breakdown.

Dynamic campaign and AI

First, dynamic campaign gets a bunch of paragraphs worth of discussion. AI is a big piece of the puzzle here and they say that remaining work is focused on strike packages, attack timelines, air and ground base defense response, and actions to take while the mission is in progress. That includes a morale system where significant losses can initiate a retreat or rout.

Notably, they also talk about a Dynamic Campaign Creation tool which the community will be able to use to creat our own campaigns. We’ll also be able to use ti to see the Air Tasking Order (ATO), set our own strategic objectives, use the Data Transfer Cartridge (DTC) and view the disposition of forces and resources.

Also mentioned is a new “navmesh” which helps guide AI units on the ground. Right now, they have a habit of running into things and not being able to get out. The new technology will reportedly be able to generate a navmesh for the whole map or just for a small area. This is apparently being tested now.

Graphics and performance

We like DCS World to look beautiful and run well. Big changes continue to take shape there with our first mention of the Vulkan API in some time. They say its now in “late stage development” and will be able to take advantage of frame generation, DLSS, FSR and enable DCS to run on non-Windows PCs. Apparently this will also enable “aggressive optimizations” for terrain, models and effects.

Another graphics feature is expanding ray tracing support. In 2026, they expect to roll out ray tracing in cockpits and then gradually extend that across all of DCS World.

Another item is titled “manual VRAM management” and “granular resource streaming.” The later is a common system where textures and resources are streamed in and out of memory as needed appearing (usually) just in time to be rendered on screen. They say this work will let the sim run better with large scale battles.

Multi-threading for graphics is now listed as complete. They intend to return to multi-threading work to assist with logistics, AI, improved ground unit behaviour and other items later.

Hopefully, all of this work can help further improve DCS performance. While my overall frame rates are up over the last several years, there are still times where some scenes just bog the sim right down and its not unusual for complex missions to soak up 40 or more gigabytes of RAM and far exceed the 12 gigabytes of VRAM that I have. With ballooning prices on hardware, I hope that DCS can do more with less.

Finally, new visual effects for explosions, airburst effects, napalm, fragmentation, and damage types are being worked on and coming in 2026.

Other core features

Other items that got mention was a new ATC system. They have developed a new interface for all types of radio operators including ATC, AWACS, Tanker, JTAC, your own flight, etc. They are testing an AI-based voice over system allowing them to rapidly add new voice overs as needed. They say they are also working with subject matter experts on authentic military comms.

Voice chat additions and updates and mission state save updates are also planned.

Part one of the updates

We’ve reached the end of my summary and commentary on what Eagle Dynamics has just posted and I will be updating my own roadmap with some of the bullet points from this to help keep that page up to date.

Eagle Dynamics says that they will be releasing part two of this update next week. We’ve seen them talk a lot about core features so I expect that we’ll see a lot more on modules and content next week with a summary of what is currently in the works.

They also say in the comments of social media posts and on Discord that the DCS World 2026 and Beyond video is in progress and planned for later this month. The release date of this video has traditionally moved around quite a bit.

A lot of what we see here are repeats of things that we already know, just with the latest status of what they have been working on. I wrote last week in a lengthy editorial that DCS World has significant technology deficits. Many these core updates are aimed at addressing at least some of the areas of critique that I have with the sim.

They aren’t small problems and they aren’t going to happen all at once but I am hoping that we’ll see one or two of these items progress in a significant way on the public release version of DCS World this year. Here’s hoping!

Read the full report here!