New development house Forest Studio have surfaced out of nothing to premiere their debut addon: SkyShare, which enacts shared cockpit controls in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The software works using a TCP server to stream control inputs over the internet and inject them into another simulator. In fact, head developer Henry C says that the addon does not even require a local simulator installation in order to work - instead, you can simply purchase the addon and control another simulator from anywhere.

One potential issue is with latency, though the developer assures 'next to zero' lag between input and reaction in tests run from North America to Australia and Europe.

"How is this different from <remote desktop="" program="">?", the developer</remote> writes on the FAQ page. "SkyShare's TCP server is blazing fast, and this is one of the very few that allow joystick passthrough. I developed this out of frustration that the solutions currently available were all too laggy or the latency was too much, or that they simply didn't support USB devices. Though I am a commercial member of the flight sim community, I am also a simmer, and at the end of the day, all I wanted was to connect to my friend's airplane with my joystick so I could "feel" how that particular type handled."

"SkyShare's technology allows me to accurately do so, with next to zero latency / lag. We've tested, and it works really really well. I'm excited to show you as soon as our MSFS NDA for videos is lifted (we can only post screenshots)."

The only requirements to run SkyShare are a control method - currently the software only works with a joystick - and a screensharing application with which to see the simulator window which you are controlling. An artifical horizon is provided in the software window in order to see flight control movements, however this is ineffective in gauging the 'full picture' according to the developer.

SkyShare will cost $12.99 USD upon release. It's not clear whether it will launch alongside the simulator's release on August 18th.

Forest Studio are currently on the look out for users with yokes and throttle quadrants to test their SkyShare addon with. To get involved, flick a message to Henry C here.