Radio Commander: Battle of Britain ’40

About this game

Latest news

• Announcements·5 Oct 2026Official

  Transmission from Britain #3

  I’m Jacob, the lead developer of the upcoming Radio Commander: Battle of Britain ’40, as well as the original Radio Commander, which was released back in 2019.In my last dev log, I promised to talk about one of the biggest challenges of this project: finding the right balance between historical accuracy, realism, and engaging gameplay. Before we get into that, though, I think it’s worth taking a step back and talking about the games that helped shape this project.There are quite a few different references behind Radio Commander: Battle of Britain ’40. Some are obvious, some are surprisingly different from what we are making, and some helped us mainly by showing us what not to do.Strategy games about the Battle of BritainThere actually aren’t that many strategy games focused specifically on the Battle of Britain. The only one I knew of when I started working on the project was Battle of Britain, released in 1999. It’s now considered abandonware, but it was an interesting reference point simply because there aren’t many alternatives covering the subject from a strategic perspective.I didn’t spend too much time looking at major World War II strategy games such as Panzer Corps, Unity of Command, or Order of Battle: World War II. They are great games, but their scale and gameplay systems felt quite far away from what I had in mind for Radio Commander: Battle of Britain ’40. I did, however, look at several WW2 grand strategy games. Hearts of Iron IV was particularly useful, although mostly for a completely different reason: its interface.Battle of Britain (1999)Flight simulators: an important but distant referenceThe Battle of Britain has obviously been represented much more often in flight simulators. There are games such as IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover, 303 Squadron: Battle of Britain, and Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator, among others. I actually have a bit of a personal connection with this genre. I played flight simulators when I was a teenager, and my dad used t...
  Read full article on Community Announcements (sofia.c)

• Announcements·17 Sept 2026Official

  Checkpoint | Battle of Britain Day

  In our latest Checkpoint live, our Business Development Manager Alberto Casulini sat down with Jakub Bukała, creator of the original Radio Commander and lead developer of the upcoming Radio Commander: Battle of Britain ’40. With Jakub leading the game’s design, production, and programming, the conversation offered a behind-the-scenes look at how the series has evolved and what the team is aiming to achieve with its next chapter.Evolving the Radio Commander formulaOne of the main topics of the conversation was the challenge of creating a sequel that feels like a genuine evolution rather than simply a new setting. For Battle of Britain ’40, the team wanted to move beyond the narrative-driven approach of the original game and put a stronger emphasis on dynamic systems, strategy, and wargaming.The Battle of Britain proved to be the perfect historical setting for this evolution. Instead of simply recreating the original experience, the team focused on a situation where information itself could become the battlefield — with reports arriving from different sources, an incomplete picture of enemy movements, and difficult decisions having to be made with limited information.New layers of strategyThe live also explored some of the new systems being introduced in Battle of Britain ’40. Among the biggest additions are new resource management and customization layers. Players will have to manage limited resources such as fighter aircraft, trained pilots, morale, and fatigue, while also developing and adapting their own command infrastructure.At the centre of this is the Dowding System, the network of sensors and processing nodes used to gather and organize information about the incoming threat. For the first time in the series, players will be able to build and customize this system, making the way information is gathered and processed an important part of the strategic experience.Almost two years of developmentThe team is currently approaching the closed beta planned as the nex...
  Read full article on Community Announcements (sofia.c)

• Announcements·8 Sept 2026Official

  Trasmission from Britain #2

  I’m Jacob, and I’m the lead developer of the original Radio Commander, released in 2019, as well as the upcoming Radio Commander: Battle of Britain ’40 - a sequel that gives us the opportunity to take the fundamental idea behind Radio Commander and transform it into something new.In the last dev log, I talked about how I struggled with the idea of making a sequel in the first place, what ultimately inspired me to create one, and the setting we chose as a result. Today, I want to talk about all the initial assumptions we formulated at the very beginning of the project. Let’s treat this as something like a pitch deck for the game we were about to make.Systems over storyFirst of all, we wanted the sequel to rely heavily on systems - dynamic elements that react to the player - while moving away from most of the narrative elements found in the first game. That meant fewer characters and dialogues, and much less static storytelling.Our assumption was that focusing on design and technology would allow us to work with a small, focused team. It would also make it possible to show the game to players relatively early in development. From the beginning, we were thinking about a community-driven development process and building up the game’s presence on Steam while it was still in development. The idea was simple: make the systems work, get them into players’ hands, listen to feedback, and evolve the game together with the community.Radio Commander: Battle of Britain ’40: Dowding system panelWWII as our playgroundI love history, and I’m particularly fascinated by World War II. There was also a practical advantage to choosing WWII as the setting: it’s highly recognizable and, unlike many fictional universes, it comes without the constraints of a proprietary IP. We wanted to use that familiarity to our advantage. Players already have some understanding of the period, its technology, and its major events. The core idea was that you are put in charge of defending the United Kingdom...
  Read full article on Community Announcements (sofia.c)

• Announcements·18 Aug 2026Official

  Trasmission from Britain #1

  The Question of Radio Commander’s SequelI’m Jacob, the lead developer of the original Radio Commander, released in 2019. I was responsible for the game’s design, programming, and production, and worked with a few collaborators on art, writing, and audio - fantastic people who will eventually become the backbone of our studio, Serious Sim. Radio Commander was our first commercial video game.At the time, I was working in academia, and the game started almost by accident - during Global Game Jam 2018. The theme of that year’s jam was “Transmission.” During that game jam, we decided to explore what a game could look like if the player didn’t directly see or control the soldiers, but instead had to communicate with them and make decisions based on incomplete information. That little game-jam experiment stuck with us. We kept working on it after hours, and eventually, almost two years later, it had grown into a full commercial game. Looking back, that origin story is important because it also explains one of the biggest problems I had with the idea of making a sequel.Call for Backup - Global Game Jam 2018 versionAfter the release of Radio Commander, and later the Squad Management DLC, I became fairly sceptical about the idea of making another game in the series. I knew the original game had its problems. There were things we would have done differently, and plenty of lessons we learned during development. But I didn’t want to simply make the same game again.One of the things that made Radio Commander interesting in the first place was its concept. You were sitting behind a radio, trying to understand what was happening on the battlefield through fragmented communications, maps, reports, and your own decisions. Sure, we could change the setting. I spent quite a lot of time thinking about different conflicts and theaters of war that could work with the same kind of approach. The Yugoslav Partisans during World War II were one of the ideas I considered, among others. But cha...
  Read full article on Community Announcements (sofia.c)

• Announcements·23 Jul 2026Official

  Game Announced

  Today's Slitherine Next showcase introduced Radio Commander: Battle of Britain '40, a brand-new real-time strategy experience that brings players inside the historic RAF Fighter Command operations rooms during one of World War II's most decisive air campaigns.Unlike traditional strategy games, players never see the battlefield directly. Every decision is made through radar contacts, pilot reports, delayed communications, and the famous Dowding System, faithfully recreating the command structure that coordinated Britain's air defense during the Battle of Britain.Players will manage every aspect of the RAF's air operations, including squadron deployments, aircraft readiness, fuel consumption, pilot fatigue, repairs, and morale, while adapting to changing weather conditions and an enemy AI capable of altering its tactics throughout the campaign.Featuring a full historical campaign spanning from the opening Luftwaffe attacks to the Blitz, Radio Commander: Battle of Britain '40 combines historical authenticity with highly replayable systemic gameplay, ensuring that no two campaigns unfold in exactly the same way.Radio Commander: Battle of Britain '40 is planned for release in 2027. Wishlist the game now and stay tuned for future updates on our official Discord.WISHLIST THE GAME ON STEAM AND SLITHERINE WEBSITE:
  Read full article on Community Announcements (sofia.c)