Aviassembly left Early Access on November 12, 2026, and the 1.0 full release adds firefighting, two seaplane pontoons, a new Hard mode, hollow fuselages and translations into five languages. It also moves breakable propellers out of the standard game and into Hard mode, and solo developer Jelle Booij says 1.0 will most likely be the last major update, with later patches mostly limited to bug fixes.
The full release went live at 14:00 UTC (9 AM Eastern) after about 18 months in Early Access, which began on April 11, 2025. Below is what each 1.0 addition does, what the 11 Early Access updates added before it, and what to expect from here.
Firefighting
Fires are the headline addition. Burning buildings are now scattered across the campaign map, and putting one out pays you coins, so fires work as a new source of income on top of cargo quests.
The method, as the developer describes it: hover over the sea, fill your plane with water, and drop it on the burning building. That makes the build matter. A design that can hold a slow, steady hover over water, such as a helicopter or a vertical takeoff build, has the easiest time loading up. Helicopter cockpits and engines arrived in Update 5 in March 2026, along with reworked vertical flight physics that also helps balloon and vertical takeoff designs.
Seaplanes and the Two Pontoon Types
Seaplanes were one of the most requested features of Early Access, and 1.0 adds two pontoon types that let a plane float on water. The patch notes say pontoons also make it much easier to fill up with water for firefighting, since you can sit on the surface instead of hovering.
There is a catch: a plane that is too heavy, or one that lands too hard, still sinks. If yours goes under, add more pontoons before you blame the landing.
Hard Mode and Breakable Propellers
Hard mode is new in 1.0, aimed at players who have already beaten the campaign or want more challenge. It changes three things:
- Breakable propellers, and they are much less forgiving than they were in Early Access.
- Lower quest rewards.
- Fewer scraps, so you cannot unlock everything and have to choose your research carefully.
Propeller breakage has a history. It arrived for helicopter rotors in Update 5, spread to every propeller engine in Update 6, and was softened in Update 7 so blades only partly broke and an engine with every propeller gone still ran at 70% efficiency. The developer called the feature “pretty polarizing,” so in 1.0 it lives only in Hard mode. In the standard game, propellers no longer break when they hit the ground.
The patch notes do not say where Hard mode is picked. Relaxed mode, the campaign mode without timed challenges added in June 2025, is a setting tied to each campaign, so look for Hard mode when you start a new one.
Hollow Fuselages
Build mode can now make fuselages hollow. Gizmos on both sides of a fuselage part set how hollow it is, which the developer hopes will open up new plane designs.
Five New Languages
Aviassembly is now translated into French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Dutch, alongside English. Change the language in the settings menu. The developer says more languages might come later.
What Early Access Added Before 1.0
If you last played in 2025, a lot has changed. The 11 Early Access updates added:
| Update | Date | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Update 1 | June 2025 | Decals, Relaxed mode, air brakes, propfan engine |
| Update 2 | July 2025 | Color picker, ramjet, afterburners on the two turbojets (push the throttle past 80%) |
| Update 3 | November 2025 | 11 Steam achievements, three small islands, a new biggest cockpit |
| Update 4 | December 2025 | Redesigned flight UI, speed and altitude meters, compass with quest markers |
| Update 5 | March 2026 | Helicopters, four mission boats too small to land on without one |
| Update 6 | April 2026 | Engine optimal speeds, downward thrust for helicopters, wheel friction |
| Update 7 | May 2026 | Faster loading, three camera modes including first person |
| Update 8 | June 2026 | Steam Workshop for sharing plane designs |
| Update 9 | August 2026 | Endless randomly generated quests after the campaign |
| Update 10 | September 2026 | Steam Cloud saves, a camera part, better rotation joints |
| Update 11 | October 2026 | HOTAS and joystick support, per-device part bindings |
HOTAS players should check the keybindings screen first, since the developer says every joystick is a little different. Our Ace Combat 8 flight stick and HOTAS setup guide covers the general calibration steps that apply to most sticks.
Price, Saves and What Comes Next
Price: the base price stays $9.99. To mark the launch, Aviassembly is 30% off ($6.99) on Steam through November 19.
Saves: cloud saves arrived in Update 10, so your Early Access campaign should sync between PCs. The 1.0 notes do not say whether fires appear in a campaign started before 1.0. When helicopters arrived, their four landing boats only appeared in new games, so if you see no fires on your old save, a fresh campaign is the fix to try.
What comes next: the developer says this “will most likely be the last major update,” that updates “will probably be limited to bug fixes,” and that most of the developer’s time will now go to new projects. Seaplanes and firefighting came from the July section of the April 2026 roadmap; the 1.0 notes do not mention that section’s wind and weather effects or temperature mechanics.
For more PC games from this year, see our list of the best PC games of 2026, and if trading builds is the part you love, our best moddable PC games list covers games with much deeper Workshop scenes.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Aviassembly leave Early Access? Aviassembly 1.0 released on November 12, 2026, at 14:00 UTC (9 AM Eastern), after about 18 months in Early Access.
Is the Aviassembly 1.0 update free? Yes. It is the same Steam game, so Early Access owners get 1.0 automatically. The base price stays $9.99, with a 30% launch discount through November 19.
Do propellers still break in Aviassembly? Only in Hard mode. In the standard game, propellers no longer break when they hit the ground.
How does firefighting work in Aviassembly? Hover over the sea, fill your plane with water, and drop it on one of the burning buildings scattered across the campaign map. Putting a fire out pays coins.
Will Aviassembly get more updates? The developer says 1.0 is most likely the last major update and that later updates will probably be limited to bug fixes.
What languages is Aviassembly in? English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Dutch. You can change the language in the settings menu.