A 200,000km² Korean War Flight Sim Drops June 25

200,000 square kilometres. That's the size of the map in Il-2 Korea, the Korean War flight simulator from 1CGS that just locked in a June 25 early access launch. For perspective, the entire landmass of Great Britain is about 209,000km². You're getting a near-country-scale combat zone in a flight sim covering a conflict that gaming has almost entirely ignored.

Developer 1CGS confirmed the date in a short teaser video, and the timing is deliberate: June 25 is the 76th anniversary of North Korean forces crossing the 38th parallel, the event that kicked off the Korean War. It's a pointed choice that signals 1CGS is treating this subject with the kind of historical weight it deserves.

Six planes, one massive theatre

The early access build will ship with six flyable aircraft spanning both sides of the conflict. On the American side, you get the F-86A-5 Sabre, the F-51D Mustang, the F-80C-10 Shooting Star, and the F-84E Thunderjet (exclusive to the Founders Edition). The opposing roster brings the MiG-15bis, the Soviet-built jet that forced the USAF to completely rethink its air strategy over Korea in late 1950. Each plane fills a distinct role; the Sabre is your dogfighter, the Mustang and Thunderjet handle ground attack, the Shooting Star sits somewhere in between, and the MiG-15bis dominates at altitude but struggles in high-speed dives. There's real tactical variety here even with a relatively small roster.

A published roadmap points to a Q3 2026 DLC that's widely expected to add aircraft carriers and naval aircraft, which would open up an entirely different dimension of the air war.

I'm excited about this one. The Korean War is one of the most significant conflicts of the 20th century and it's been almost completely absent from gaming outside of a few scattered strategy titles. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is tackling a fictional reignited Korean conflict when it launches in October, but Il-2 Korea is going after the real thing, with the kind of obsessive detail that the Il-2 series is known for. A 200,000km² map at sim-level fidelity is an absurd undertaking for any studio, and the fact that a relatively small team is pulling it off before a Activision's blockbuster even ships says a lot about what niche developers can accomplish when they commit to a vision.

Il-2 Korea launches into early access on PC on June 25. No pricing details have been confirmed yet, though the Founders Edition includes the F-84E Thunderjet as an exclusive aircraft.