Hey, Pilots! This is happening — Heliborne has just been fully released!

First of all, we want to thank everyone who supported us along the way. We have managed to build a small, but very close and active community. You guys helped us with a lot of things which would be impossible without you, including almost all the localizations and voice acting for the historical campaigns. As for the tiny team of four, it’s vitally important to have those who will give you a hand when needed. And you even did not ask for anything in return. THANK YOU! YOU ARE AWESOME, AND WE LOVE ALL OF YOU! As we announced before, we have a special gift for everyone who bought the game in Early Access. And we wanted it to be so special that we haven’t finished it yet, being insanely busy with the release version of the game itself. However, we believe it’s worth waiting. So thanks again, guys, this time for your patience!

Next, let’s talk about the game.

Heliborne has been in the Early Access for a year and a half, since February 2016. Here’s a short list (ok, not so short) of what has been done:

• 20 new helicopters. Now Heliborne features 50 different birds, our plan is to significantly expand the hangar after the release.
• 3 new maps: Kosovo (25 sq. km), Khost Region (64 sq. km), and a huge and detailed training polygon where you can test helicopters before battles (you will be able to do more there, but let it be our small secret for now). Current map roster includes 6 maps — 5 combat maps and the polygon.
• Night map. The first one with lights off is Kosovo. More on the way.
• Squadron system. It’s been designed to add more tactics to battles. Very similar to a deck system in card collectible games.
• Progression system and Research tree. We designed this research system to be a learning experience, not a grinding one, and plan to keep it this way.
• Frontline PvP mode. More tactical evolution of Domination mode with plenty of ground vehicles.
• PvE sandbox co-op mode. Also playable in solo.
• Two historical campaigns: Easter Offensive in Vietnam (1972) and Operation Magistral in Afghanistan (1987–1988). Co-op play is planned for the post-release period.
• Offline mode. For those who can’t or don’t want to play online. Unlocked squadron builder is coming soon.
• Customization and cosmetic items. Dozens of helicopter camouflages, helmet paint schemes, and helmet patches.
• Private profiles.
• Rank & Awards system.
• Modular damage system.
• Detailed tactical map.
• Improved flight model.
• Advanced control scheme.
• Gamepads/Joysticks/HOTAS support.
• New types of deployable special soldiers: SMAW/RPG and mortars.
• Soundtrack.
• Steam Trading Cards together with badges, profile backgrounds, and emoticons.
• New localizations.
• A long list of less visible changes we don’t want you to bore with.

For those who would like to additionally support further Heliborne development, we’ve added several cosmetic DLC packs with thematic camouflages (4-7 in each). However, it’s totally up to you: players can still unlock plenty of other additional camouflages free of charge, and we’ll be adding more of them!
The most important question is “What’s next.” Although the full release is an important milestone for the Team, we are too ambitious to finish the development at this point. We have plenty of ideas, and the release will hopefully give us necessary resources to implement them. With that number of pilots playing Heliborne lately, it’s rather a plan than a hope. We want to give you some details about what to expect in upcoming updates:

• PvE improvements: new objective types like covert infiltration, search and rescue, cargo supply, PvE scenarios like defend the position, support the attack, and others
• more PvP game modes
• carryable cargo for heavy lift helicopters
• new options for troop deployment (including fast-roping)
• new types of weapons and equipment (radars, more ATGM specifics, etc.)
• naval map, naval gameplay, naval helicopter and naval weapons
• AI-helicopter for PvE
• gameplay tutorial
• co-op mode for historical campaigns
• in-battle lobby with a possibility to invite friends
• VoIP-chat
• a special gift for early supporters
• more music to listen to in battles
• updated sound effects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id0ZiyTAOYA

Special thanks to The Mighty Jingles who has made a Heliborne review just before the release. The game has never seen such a huge amount of players online as yesterday. Honestly, this is the best possible present we could get for the release. Apart from that, we also want to thank all the other YouTubers/streamers. Thanks to them we have been able to spread the word about Heliborne even with zero marketing budget. BaronVonGamez, MagzTV, PhlyDaily, Raptor, TheDevildogGamer, and many others gave us a push when we entered the Early Access, just as The Mighty Jingles did on the full release. Don’t know if we could have made it without their help (probably not).

Version 0.86 changelog:

• Night version of the Kosovo map. Only PvP at the moment, but PvE version will also be added soon. Be warned: the visibility here is much lower than on its day-time counterpart.
• 5 new helicopters in the research tree: AH-6, MH-6, Ka-26, Ka-27, and Ka-60.
• The first version of historical missions. They are divided into two campaigns, which will be improved and expanded later.
• New helicopter camouflages, around 40 variations. Can be unlocked for progression points.
• Several cosmetic DLC packs with nearly 40 thematic helicopter camouflages. Purchasable via Steam.
• MH-60L/AH-60L has received 4 soldiers.
• Romanian IAR-330L has been moved to the Soviet side.
• ATGM improvement: a missile loses direction when a player switches to another weapon.
• Mortar troops improvement: more powerful mortar shell (close to rockets damage-wise) and increased ammo.
• Filters for the list of battles.
• Tonkin map: the map borders have been expanded.
• "Power shield" on bases against spawn killing has been removed from PvE.
• The reward for finishing PvP battles (both with victory and defeat) has been increased significantly.
• A reward for completing objectives to the whole team has been added to PvE. The higher is the difficulty, the more points you get.
• Ground vehicles on Nguyen map now are more vulnerable to miniguns.
• Background in-battle music has been added.
• Players limit has been decreased for PvP-mode on two maps: Tonkin — 5v5, Badakhshan — 6v6.
• Helicopters' textures have been updated.

Faithfully yours,

Team JetCat