Here is a small excerpt from the Polychop Simulations announcement, you can read the full announcement on our forums here.
Dear community,
It has been a few months since we first publicly announced that we are working on the OH-58D Kiowa for DCS World.
For the past two years, we have been working on the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. Back then we were not yet certain what flight simulator software we’d be building the OH-58D for but at some point, we decided (again) on DCS world.
During the past 2 years, we have been talking to a lot of individuals including people from Bell Textron, Eagle Dynamics and the US Army Cavalry community.
Bell Textron granted us a product-specific license for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior for commercial use, which means we were given permission to recreate the helicopter for game or entertainment purposes. Without this license, a module for the DCS World environment would not be possible.
With the license also comes a responsibility. Anything related to the product will be subject to demanding quality control procedures. We recognize this as an opportunity and a benefit for the community, the simulation of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior in DCS World and ourselves as a developing company. The license also grants us access to certain information otherwise not available to the public. Without it, it would simply be impossible to create a lifelike representation of the aircraft.
With the manufacturer’s license secured, we got in contact with Eagle Dynamics to discuss with them the plans we had for our next module. This started a long period in which possible contracts were negotiated. Negotiations like these are complex, especially when it involves a third party, in this case, Bell Textron. In the end, all parties have to agree to the terms and conditions.
In October 2019, a day before the Cosford Flight Sim Show, we got the green light from Eagle Dynamics to announce the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior as a possible DCS World module. Even though the contract had not been finalized, at that point we were at a stage in negotiations where it was very plausible all parties involved would come to an agreement.
Today we can announce that all contracts have been signed and finalized. The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior will be released as a DCS World module. We can’t reveal a release date yet. We’ve set our sights on a release in 2020 though.
Overall we are happy that we have the opportunity to bring such an iconic helicopter, a workhorse of its kind, to DCS World and have her live on in our community. We also want to thank Eagle Dynamics, Nick Grey and Matthias Techmanski for all the support and the trust they have in our team, that we will be able to properly produce this magnificent helicopter, which was the first to ever have a glass cockpit worldwide.
Now the big question, when will the community hear more news or see new streams or videos about the Kiowa. We are currently planning to have a scheduled stream with a few people available. What, when and who will be discussed and announced in a few days. So stay tuned.
For now, the whole team wishes all the best and everybody a Merry Christmas 2019
Your Polychop Team
