IL-2 Sturmovik (series)
IL-2 Sturmovik is a series of World War II combat flight simulation video games originally created in 2001 by Russian video game developer Maddox Games under the brand name, following its association with 1C Company. Maddox Games left 1C Company in 2011. Since 2012, 1C's new developer is 1C Game Studios, who currently owns the IL-2 Sturmovik label and runs three different accumulated generations of IL-2 games.
Along with its sequels, IL-2 Sturmovik is considered one of the leading World War II flight simulators. The series covers a number of flyable aircraft of Soviet, German, American, British, Japanese, French, Italian, Romanian, Czechoslovak, Polish and other origins. Different games of the series cover different theaters of World War II, including the Eastern Front, the Western Front and the Pacific theater.
History
IL-2 Sturmovik games spans three generations :- The first game in the series, IL-2 Sturmovik, was first released on 18 November 2001. This started the original line of IL-2 Sturmovik games which in the present day is officially titled ' as this was the title of its "Complete Edition" back in 2006, the final compilation of add-ons in the first generation of IL-2 games.
- The development of a completely different game engine in the series, introduced in 2011 upon release of ', started the second generation of games in the series.
- The first game of this collaboration, and the latest title in the IL-2 Sturmovik series, started the third generation of games in the series,
Games
As of 2017 the entire third generation is titled IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles. In the Great Battles series each game is considered as a "module". Battle of Stalingrad, Battle of Kuban, and Flying Circus are examples of modules in the series. Versions mentioned in the chart below give the number of versions reached immediately before the next module is launched with early access. Please note that, left of the versions, the year given for each game corresponds to its full access release, not to its early access release. The purchase of one module is at any time a payable and downloadable update that automatically ups all the other Great Battles modules to the latest version of the game.| Title | Year | Versions | Generation | System | Publisher | Metacritic score | Comments |
| IL-2 Sturmovik | 2001 | 1.0, 1.1a, 1.2 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | 91/100 | Standalone game |
| ' | 2003 | 1.1, 1.2b, 1.21, 1.22 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | 86/100 | Standalone game |
| ' | 2004 | 2.01, 2.04 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | 85/100 | Add-on |
| ' | 2004 | 2.01, 2.04 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | Standalone game | |
| Pacific Fighters | 2004 | 3.0, 3.03, 4.01, 4.02, 4.03, 4.04 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | 76/100 | Standalone game |
| Pe-2 Peshka | 2006 | 4.05 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | Add-on | |
| Sturmoviks over Manchuria | 2006 | 4.06 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | Add-on | |
| ' | 2006 | 4.07 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | 86/100 | Add-on |
| ' | 2006 | 4.07, 4.08, 4.09, 4.10, 4.101 | 1st | Windows | Ubisoft | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2009 | 1st | Windows, 360, PS3, PSP, NDS | 1C Company | 78/100 | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2009 | 1st | Windows | 1C Company | 78/100 | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2011 | 2nd | Windows | 1C Company | 60/100 | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2013 | 1.003, 1.004, 1.005, 1.006, 1.007 1.008, 1.009, 1.010, 1.011 | 3rd | Windows | 1C Company | 74/100 | Standalone game |
| ' | 2016 | 1.101, 1.102, 1.103, 1.104, 1.105, 1.106, 1.107 1.107b, 1.201, 2.001, 2.002, 2.002b, 2.003, 2.005 2.006, 2.006c, 2.007, 2.008, 2.009, 2.010, 2.011 | 3rd | Windows | 1C Company | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2018 | 2.012, 3.001, 3.002 | 3rd | Windows | 1C Company | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2019 | 3.003, 3.004 | 3rd | Windows | 1C Company | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2019 | 3.005, 3.006, 3.007, 3.008, 3.009, 3.010, 3.010b, 3.010c 3.011, 3.012, 3.101, 3.102, 3.201, 4.001, 4.002 | 3rd | Windows | 1C Company | Standalone game | |
| ' | 2019 | Same as Flying Circus | 3rd | Windows | 1C Company | Standalone game |
Original ''IL-2 Sturmovik'' series
The original IL-2 Sturmovik series, from IL-2 Sturmovik to , features a number of games using the same engine, but featuring different battlefields and aircraft:''IL-2 Sturmovik''
IL-2 Sturmovik came out in 2001, featuring 31 flyable aircraft and focusing on the Eastern Front.''IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles''
The first sequel Forgotten Battles was released in March 2003. In addition to the content from the original game, it added a number of simulated planes and battlefields and introduced the Continuation War theater..IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles was a payable product which didn't require that the original 2001 game was installed. A relevant new feature in Forgotten Battles was the campaign system which for the first time in the IL-2 Sturmovik games started the dynamic mode.''IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles - Ace Expansion Pack''
The was released in March 2004, adding 20 new modelled aircraft, 10 of them flyable by the player and with three new maps battlefields. Not a standalone game, the Ace Expansion Pack was a payable product which required that Forgotten Battles was previously installed.''IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles - Gold Pack''
The Gold Pack was simultaneously released with the Ace Expansion Pack. The Gold Pack reunited Forgotten Battles and Forgotten Battles - Ace Expansion Pack in one single standalone installation game. It was intended to purchasers who never before have bought any game in the IL-2 Sturmovik series.''Pacific Fighters''
Released as a stand-alone expansion pack in October 2004, Pacific Fighters focuses on the Pacific theater, with theater-appropriate aircraft, as well as aircraft carriers and battleships.''Pe-2 Peshka''
In May 2006, the Pe-2 Peshka add-on was released in Europe and North America. This added 95 campaigns, five single missions and five multi-player cooperative missions. Two new flyable aircraft, the Petlyakov Pe-2 and the Petlyakov Pe-3, as well as a large number of new ground vehicles and artillery were also included. When installed, Pe-2 Peshka is merged with previous games in the series. Pe-2 Peshka was a payable and downloadable patch, mainly intended to players who had accumulated all previous add-ons and patches of the series.''Sturmoviks over Manchuria''
Sturmoviks over Manchuria was a downloadable add-on, mainly focusing on the Manchuria region and the border between the USSR, China and Japanese-occupied Korea. With this new add-on the player could fly aircraft related to the conflicts that broke out in this region at the end of the Second World War. Sturmoviks over Manchuria was a payable and downloadable patch, mainly intended to players who had accumulated all previous add-ons and patches of the series.''IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946''
Ubisoft released simultaneously both the IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 add-on and the IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 compilation pack in December 2006 in Europe and Australia; North American release was on 13 March 2007. The standalone compilation DVD takes its title from the add-on. In addition to all of the above games, the compilation includes the three new add-ons released in 2006: Pe-2 Peshka and the two add-ons newly included in the package: Sturmoviks over Manchuria and 1946. This raised the total number of aircraft to over 300 with 32 new flyable aircraft, such as Soviet and Japanese aircraft that served during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945. Referring to a purely hypothetical continuation of World War II in 1946, the 1946 add-on introduced a few aircraft which in real history never went beyond the design stage. Among others, the IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 compilation pack introduced the historically existing Yak-15, MiG-9, MiG-13, Ar-234, N1K-J, J2M, Ki-21, A-20C, Il-10 and many others. It also features nearly 200 new missions and new maps featuring the Kiev region, new parts of the USSR, Manchuria, China, Korea and Burma.''IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey''
Birds of Prey is an IL-2 port created by Gaijin Entertainment. It was released in September 2009 for PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, as well as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. In December 2009, the game was made available for Microsoft Windows under the title Wings of Prey.''IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover''
In March 2011, 1C released a sequel to the original IL-2 series under the title IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover.''IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles''
In December 2012, it was announced that 1C Company had combined with 777 Studios to form 1C Game Studios. In November 2013 the team released another sequel in the series, titled ', this time running the "Digital Nature" game engine. After Battle of Stalingrad underwent a series of improvements between 2013 and 2016, its game engine saw its name changed from "Digital Nature" to "Digital Warfare" in November 2017. 1C Game Studios ended up releasing new theatres of operations, distinct from the Stalingrad area, the first being ', released in 2016. In November 2017, when announcing the change of name of the game engine, 1C Game Studios also announced that all subsequent products would be a part of the newly named IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles brand, a series of simulations not only dealing with World War II aircraft as it also allows players to purchase a World War I aircraft simulator game or an add-on intended to operate World War II tanks.All of the IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles games are standalone games and it is not necessary to purchase and install any of the other games in the series.