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Nuclear Option
Fly near-future aircraft with immersive physics across dynamic battlefields, facing land, air, and sea threats. Wage war against AI or rival pilots using an array of advanced weaponry, including tactical and strategic nuclear weapons capable of annihilating anything in your path.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-13.
What reviewers agree on
94 of the 105 reviews raise this.
“Absolutely awesome. 2GB for my favorite aircraft game ever. It's truly a shame that this game isn't as popular as it should be. The soundtrack is an absolute BANGER and the nukes make me feel like I'm bombing Nagasaki…”
“Yes. I EMPHATICALLY recommend this game to you all. It's low resource on the Storage, has a brilliant plug and play system, with enough tactical depth that you can go for it with enough simcade that anyone can play it…”
“Great game, not quite DCS or VTOL VR complexity but complex enough where it feels like you're still a real pilot. Decent balance and great modding & custom mission. Just updated too, though that may break some mods.…”
28 of the 105 reviews raise this.
“Great game, not quite DCS or VTOL VR complexity but complex enough where it feels like you're still a real pilot. Decent balance and great modding & custom mission. Just updated too, though that may break some mods.…”
“Coming from VTOL VR, this game has been a fresh of breath air. no need to strap a screen to your face to play Nuclear Option (though i wish i could, these graphics are amazing). I've only played for a full day, and i'm…”
“This game is worth the buy, has lots of potential and right very fun for easier sim vs DCS.”
24 of the 105 reviews raise this.
“Absolutely awesome. 2GB for my favorite aircraft game ever. It's truly a shame that this game isn't as popular as it should be. The soundtrack is an absolute BANGER and the nukes make me feel like I'm bombing Nagasaki…”
“Yes. I EMPHATICALLY recommend this game to you all. It's low resource on the Storage, has a brilliant plug and play system, with enough tactical depth that you can go for it with enough simcade that anyone can play it…”
“A great flight game with engaging sim elements that is still casual enough to be accessible with believably near future vehicles. The content that's already here makes the $20 price tag super worth it, really looking…”
23 of the 105 reviews raise this.
“Yes. I EMPHATICALLY recommend this game to you all. It's low resource on the Storage, has a brilliant plug and play system, with enough tactical depth that you can go for it with enough simcade that anyone can play it…”
“Great game, not quite DCS or VTOL VR complexity but complex enough where it feels like you're still a real pilot. Decent balance and great modding & custom mission. Just updated too, though that may break some mods.…”
“A great flight game with engaging sim elements that is still casual enough to be accessible with believably near future vehicles. The content that's already here makes the $20 price tag super worth it, really looking…”
20 of the 105 reviews raise this.
“Yes. I EMPHATICALLY recommend this game to you all. It's low resource on the Storage, has a brilliant plug and play system, with enough tactical depth that you can go for it with enough simcade that anyone can play it…”
“Great game, not quite DCS or VTOL VR complexity but complex enough where it feels like you're still a real pilot. Decent balance and great modding & custom mission. Just updated too, though that may break some mods.…”
“Tons of fun to play, not bad with a controller either”
7 of the 105 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“I love this game. There are so many different game modes to enjoy, but I specifically really enjoy escalation, as it feels like a full-scale war. If War Thunder is too arcade-like and DCS is too real, this is the…”
“Great game, love the graphics and fresh take on the aircraft dogfighting genre, am eager to learn more about this game and continue playing at the recommendation of my other friends. However, mouse and keyboard controls…”
“This is such a good game, but the steering is very complicated, so I'll probably refund it :I Runs like butter on my ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ass laptop tho! So 10/10 for optimitazion, gameplay and design, 5/10 for the controls, because…”
3 of the 105 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“Game was fun for a while, now every time I try to join multiplayer I get an "unable to connect to steam" popup and it won't let me play online. There is no information anywhere that relates to the error apart from a…”
“Tried to do a heli mission -> crashed on landing after some "VRS" warning -> looked it up on reddit -> found out that it is a real world thing (basically when the main rotor starts sucking its pushed air (creating…”
“Its a really good game and is great for someone that wants a break from the rigors of DCS and just wants to shoot some ♥♥♥♥ up. I just wish there were more players in Oceania.”
3 of the 105 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“Game was fun for a while, now every time I try to join multiplayer I get an "unable to connect to steam" popup and it won't let me play online. There is no information anywhere that relates to the error apart from a…”
“Really fun. Find myself playing it between playing other games. Only annoying issues ive had are the controls (swapped throttle from Shift and Control to W and S, and if you remove previous binds it prevents you from…”
“Excellent blend of realism and accessibility. Lots of bugs and balancing to iron out, but this game has enormous potential.”
Counted across 105 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 95.5% positive rating · as of 2026-05-13
“Want to fly planes but DCS is too complicated and Ace Combat is too simple? Nuclear option occupies the middle ground pretty well. The weapons system is simple, lock on and press the button. The planes have a some weight and mechanic to them, its not perfect but its pretty good.…”
— a player, Steam review · 35 hrs played“Here were my stages of playing: 1. Did the tutorial 2. Joined a server 3. Spawned in 4. Got annihillated by a sam 5. Got annihillated by a sam 6.Got annihillated by a sam 7.Got annihillated by a sam 8. Finally doged one 9. Got annihillated by a sam 10.Got annihillated by a sam…”
— a player, Steam review · 22 hrs played“narcan for war thunder addicts. its like that game by gaijin entertainment except it respects your time instead of slowly sucking you into an abusive relationship. unlike my time with war thunder, where I enjoyed about 15% of my 1300 hours, I have enjoyed every second I've spent…”
— a player, Steam review · 405 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Nuclear Option Merch Store
We’re incredibly lucky to have such an amazing community! We often get asked how you can support the continued development of Nuclear Option, and checking out the Merch Store is one of the best ways t
Patch 0.34.2
Fixed an issue with HUD text elements sometimes not reflecting the HUD Font Size setting Fixed nuclear bombs incorrectly accounting for airburst target point Fixed and improved event content UI Improv
0.34.1
Bug Fixes: Fixed missing navlights on FS-12 Revoker Fixed ejected casings not displaying on 57mm gunpod Fixed cases of ARAD-116 not fusing when fired at some radars Fixed orbit camera smoothing Fixed
Update 0.34
Content, Features & Improvements: New flyable aircraft: VT-7 Vagrant New sea vessel: Surf Class Patrol Boat Munitions trucks have AI now, and will ferry ammo from storage facilities to units that need
Patch 0.33.4
Added Steam and Discord Rich PresenceAdded vote kickingBetter performance tracking for serversFixed Error in GetPlayerList Remote CommandLowered log level for Steam Manager to stop log spamBlocked fam
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-13.
| Genres | Action, Indie, Simulation, Early Access |
| Player tags | Early Access · Flight · Action · Simulation · Multiplayer · Combat · Military · Sci-fi · War · Wargame · Futuristic · Jet (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · Co-op · Online Co-op · Steam Workshop · Custom Volume Controls |
| Languages | English * * |
| Official site | https://linktr.ee/shockfrontstudios |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (or equivalent) Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti / Radeon RX 560 / Intel Arc A380 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 4 GB available space