Korea. IL-2 Series Wiki
Korea. IL-2 Series is a next-generation historical flight combat simulator from 1C Game Studios, the team behind the long-running IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles series. Built on an entirely new engine after more than a decade refining the prior series, it launches on Steam today, August 4, 2026, timed to the 74th anniversary of the Korean War -- a setting the franchise has never covered before.
A Genuinely Novel Setting for the Franchise
The Korean War sits at a unique moment in aviation history: propeller-driven aircraft from an earlier era clashed directly with the first generation of jet fighters. Korea recreates 8 meticulously researched, player-controllable aircraft built from real schematics, historical photographs, pilot manuals, and museum documentation -- every gauge functions, and every gunsight operates the way it did for the pilots who actually flew them 75 years ago.
Not Just a Dogfighting Sim
Beyond flying individual sorties, Korea includes a genuine strategic command layer. You can become a regiment's commander -- leading squadrons, plotting routes across a massive combat map, and issuing orders that shape the outcome of the wider campaign, rather than only ever controlling a single aircraft. The combat map itself covers over 200,000 square kilometers, the largest in series history, recreating the Korean Peninsula from historical 1950s maps and documents, including significant real landscape changes over the war's timeline.
A Real, Notable Distribution Controversy
Early Access launched June 25, 2026 -- but exclusively through pre-orders on the game's official website, not Steam. This drew real, vocal community frustration, with some players unfavorably comparing the choice to competitor DCS World's more Steam-inclusive approach, and others reporting genuine payment friction with the website's third-party payment processor (pre-authorization holds lasting far longer than the stated timeframe). Today's Steam launch arrives directly as the full v1.0 release, without ever offering Early Access on that specific storefront.
An Honest Note on AI Use
The developers have disclosed specific, itemized AI use: generative technology for in-game radio communications (text-to-speech built on real voice actor recordings made under proper agreements), pilot portraits, and Career mode images (AI-assisted workflows built from the studio's own assets, screenshots, and historical references, then manually reviewed and refined). This is a considerably more detailed disclosure than a blanket AI statement.
First-Time Accessibility and Hardware Support
For the first time in franchise history, gamepads are supported alongside joysticks and HOTAS systems, and the game maintains the series' philosophy of offering deep, authentic systems for players who want them without forcing anyone to memorize real engine start-up sequences just to get airborne. Full VR support is included via OpenXR and OpenVR, though VR controllers specifically are not supported -- HOTAS or joystick remains the expected VR input method.