Microsoft Flight Simulator News & Announcements
Weekly RecapOur next Developer Livestream now has a scheduled date! Join the regular panel of Jorg, Seb, and Martial plus special guests on Wednesday, April 15 at 10:30am Pacific time (1730 UTC) for a discussion about future development of MSFS and answers to many questions from the community. Thank you to everyone who pre-submitted questions over the past few weeks; we are currently collating all your submissions and preparing responses to the most frequently asked questions. Also, if you missed the opportunity to submit a question in advance, you can still ask a question to the panel live during the broadcast via Twitch chat. Be sure to follow our official Twitch channel if you’re not already so you’ll receive a notification when the broadcast starts.The dev team remains hard at work on Sim Update 5 with a release target planned for later this month. As always, we caution that this is a target only and not a locked-in promise. We will not launch SU5 until we are confident it is in a great state and will be well-received by simmers on all platforms. SU5 will include hundreds of bug fixes and other improvements and also introduce the highly-anticipated PSVR2 feature for Sony PlayStation 5 users.Public beta testing for SU5 remains ongoing with Monday’s release of the 1.7.17.0 test build. In case you missed it, you can read the release notes for this build on our forums here. Also, for those participating in the beta, please be sure to vote in our forum surveys here.As a reminder from last week, the Marketplace Spring Sale is on now! Enjoy big savings on thousands of add-on products for both Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. If you’ve had your eye on a specific add-on or just want to go impulse shopping for your next favorite aircraft, airport, scenery, or mission pack, don’t miss out on these savings!
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020): For 13 Days starting on April 2nd, save up to 85% on more than 4300 items.
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: For 13 Days starting on April 2nd, save up to 80% on more than 1000 items.
Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapThe entire Microsoft Flight Simulator Team wishes godspeed to the crew of Artemis II on their historic space flight to the moon! We know many of you watched the launch yesterday, and if you’re interested in celebrating this mission some more, be sure to join our Community Fly-In Friday group flight this week as we visit Kennedy Space Center in the sim. See the Community section below for more information.We also want to give a big congratulations to our friends at iniBuilds on the release of their TriStar Airliner add-on this week! Available exclusively from the in-sim Marketplace for USD $49.99, MSFS 2024 pilots can now live their dreams of flying this classic trijet that harkens back to the 1970s.Public pre-release testing for Sim Update 5 continues with test build 1.7.16.0 being made available late last week to those enrolled in the optional beta. You can read the full release notes for this build on our forums here.As a reminder from last Thursday’s Weekly Briefing, the next Developer Livestream will be coming up sometime in April (exact date is still TBD). If you would like to pre-submit a question to the panel in advance, you can do so by completing this web form. Be sure to follow our official Twitch channel if you’re not already so you’ll receive a notification whenever we start a public broadcast.Last but not least, the Marketplace Spring Sale is on now! Enjoy big savings on thousands of add-on products for the next 13 days. If you’ve had your eye on a specific add-on or just want to go impulse shopping for your next favorite aircraft, airport, scenery, or mission pack, don’t miss out on these savings!
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020): For 13 Days starting on April 2nd, save up to 85% on more than 4300 items.
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: For 13 Days starting on April 2nd, save up to 80% on more than 1000 items.
Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Enjoy discounted pricing during our Microsoft Flight Simulator Spring Sale! For 13 Days starting on April 2nd, save up to 80% on more than 1000 items. To purchase these discounted items, visit the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace, scroll down to ‘Special Offers’, then select ‘See All’ and look for the savings.
Weekly RecapMany members of the MSFS team were in Lelystad, Netherlands last week for the annual FSWeekend event!We welcomed thousands of event attendees to have hands-on time with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5 Pro using a variety of flight control peripherals from vendors such as Honeycomb Aeronautical, Moza, Thrustmaster, Tobii, and Turtle Beach. Attendees could even compete for the daily high score at different landing challenges and Red Bull Air Races for their chance to win fantastic flight control peripherals!Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann also appeared at FSWeekend by pre-recorded video to make several announcements:
  • City Update 14: The Netherlands and Belgium is available now as a FREE download on all platforms from the in-sim Marketplace.
  • Local Legend 23: Fokker F27 Friendship is also available now from the Marketplace for USD $19.99.
  • Launching together with the upcoming Sim Update 5 (targeted for release in April) will be Aircraft & Avionics Update 4 (AAU4). This update will bring improvements to the following European-designed aircraft, updating them to MSFS 2024 native versions (with other aircraft updates coming in future AAUs):
    • Antonov An-2
    • ATR 42-600 / 72-600
    • Fokker F.VII
    • Latecoere 631
    • Savoia-Marchetti S.55
  • PSVR2 support was confirmed to launch with Sim Update 5! Attendees at FSWeekend were able to try a work-in-progress implementation running on PS5 Pro consoles at our booth!
  • Finally, Jorg revealed that the next Developer Livestream is planned for April (exact date TBD). We had originally planned to hold a live audience Q&A during the FSWeekend keynote, but Jorg was unable to attend in-person due to a family health emergency. Stay tuned for more information about the this upcoming livestream. If you would like to pre-submit a question to the panel in advance, you can do so by completing this web form.
You can watch Jorg’s entire presentation courtesy of FSElite on their YouTube channel here:Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapPublic testing for Sim Update 5 remains ongoing with a new test build released earlier this week. You can see the full release notes for beta build 1.7.10.0 on our forums here. As always, if you are participating in the beta, please remember to vote in our feedback surveys and submit a bug report in the appropriate subsection of the forums if you encounter any issues. Thank you once again to everyone from the community who is helping test these pre-release beta builds!Next week the MSFS team will be in Lelystad, Netherlands for the FlightSim Weekend event! This will be our first time attending a dedicated flight sim community event in Europe, and we’re excited to meet many of you in person! If you’ll be attending FSWeekend, be sure to stop by the MSFS booth to meet members of the team and try your hand at various in-sim flying challenges for your chance to win some great prizes! We hope to see many of you there! Full details about the event can be found on the FSWeekend website here. The MSFS team has the largest booth in the exhibition hall, so we’ll be easy to find! Check out the floor plan here:Please note that the MSFS Community Team will all be travelling to FSWeekend next week, sothere will not be a Weekly Briefing on March 19. We’ll catch up with you again on March 26!Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapWe had two releases this week! The first is Sim Update 16.1 for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020). This is a relatively small update that resolves a few stability/crash issues. You can read the full release notes here.Next up, we released the latest beta test build for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 5. This build resolves several issues, including a regression from an earlier SU5 pre-release test build that inadvertently removed windows and doors from autogen buildings. The full release notes for this build, 1.7.9.0, can be found on the forums here.Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapPublic testing for Sim Update 5 remains ongoing. Last week we released a new beta build, 1.7.7.0, to volunteer testers from the community. You can read the release notes for this test build here. If you are not currently enrolled in the beta and would like to help assist the dev team by testing the latest pre-release build and sharing feedback and bug reports, you can find instructions on how to join here.If you are in the beta, please be sure to vote in our forum surveys. This feedback is regularly reviewed by the team and is incredibly valuable to us! Thank you once again to all the volunteer testers from the community!Finally, last week flight sim fans gathered together for two separate community-organized Bravo Alpha Romeo events, one in Dallas, Texas and another in Melbourne, Australia! If you — yes, YOU — would like to host a B.A.R. event in your local area, the MSFS Community Team would love to help you with organization! You can join the B.A.R. Organizer Discord server here for more information!Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapThe Sim Update 5 public beta test for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 began last week! In case you missed it, you can read the release notes for the first test build here. Thank you to everyone who is participating in the beta for your feedback and bug reports. If you do encounter any issues when testing the SU5 beta build, be sure to create a new Bug Report or upvote and contribute to an existing report of the same issue in the appropriate SU5 subcategory of our forums. Also please be sure to vote in our forum surveys at this link.In other news, today was the regularly monthly navdata update (AIRAC cycle 2602) for both Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This update additionally included some fixes for a small number of airports in MSFS 2024 only. You can read all the details here.Finally, to everyone around the world celebrating the Lunar New Year this week, the MSFS team wishes you all good luck and prosperity in the upcoming year!Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Welcome to the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 5 public beta test!The Sim Update 05 Beta is now available on Steam, Windows PC, and Xbox.The release notes for the first SU5 test build (1.7.6.0) can be found on our forums here.Changes to Career/Challenge League in the Sim Update 5 BetaJust like the recent Sim Update 4 Beta, Career and Challenge League will have separate progress and leaderboards from the live build.This means Career mode progress in the live build will not carry over to the flighting build, and vice versa. In addition, Challenge League in the flighting build will have a separate leaderboard from the live build.Making Career and Challenge League progress separate in the flighting build allows us to test additional changes and fixes that cannot be tested in the live build. All Career specializations will be unlocked by default in the flighting build to allow participants to preview changes that might not be available (based on Career mode progress) in the live build.Will joining the Sim Update 5 Beta (and future Sim Update Betas) impact my progress in Career mode on the live build?
  • No, Career mode progress is locked to the live build. No Career progress made in the flighting build will carry over to the live build. However, all Career mode specializations are unlocked by default in the flighting build.
Will my leaderboard records in Challenge League transfer when the flighting build becomes the live build?
  • No, Challenge League leaderboards in the flighting build will always be separate from the live build.
Will progress in other game modes (Discovery, Free Flight, etc.) be separate in the flighting build and live build?
  • No, only progress in Career and Challenge League are affected. This could change in the future.
Will content I own or purchase in the Marketplace be available on both the flighting build and the live build?
  • Yes, all content owned or purchased in the live build or the flighting build will always be available in both builds.
Please find instructions to join the Sim Update 05 Beta below. You must own Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (or have an appropriate Xbox Game Pass subscription) to participate on the platform of your choice.What to Know Before You JoinWhile in Multiplayer Mode, you will only see users who are in the same build as you.How to Join or Leave the Beta on SteamOpen your Steam LibraryRight-click Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024Click “Properties”Click “Betas”Select “flight_sim_beta – Sim Update 5"If you would like to exit the pre-release test before it ends and revert back to the live build, follow these instructions:Open your Steam LibraryRight-click Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024Click “Properties”Click “Betas”Select “None”
Weekly RecapWe have good news! Sim Update 5 Public Beta officially begins tomorrow, February 13th, and will be available for Xbox, PC, and Steam users at this time. This beta is an opportunity for those who would like to help test and shape the update ahead of release, and we appreciate everyone’s continued enthusiasm and patience as we kick things off.As a reminder on how to join: for Xbox and PC (Microsoft Store) users, start by completing the sign-up here. Once registered, install and open the Xbox Insider Hub on your PC or Xbox, navigate to Previews, and select Microsoft Flight Simulator Beta. Choose Join, then under Manage, select Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 – Sim Update 5 and save your selection. After registration completes, restart your PC or Xbox to refresh the Microsoft Store and begin downloading the update. You’ll see your group name update to reflect the current Sim Update flighting.Steam users can opt into the beta by opening the Steam Library, right-clicking Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, selecting Properties, and navigating to Betas. From the dropdown menu, choose flight_sim_beta – Sim Update 5, and Steam will handle the update automatically.The forums for viewing release notes, reporting feedback, taking surveys, and posting any noted regressions will open tomorrow once the Beta is underway.In other news, we’re also introducing a new way to connect with fellow simmers through Airport of the Day on Discord. Every 24 hours, a new airport is selected as a shared destination, giving the you an easy, low-pressure way to fly together, hop into voice chat, and cross paths in-sim.We are also excited to continue expanding our in-person B.A.R. events. An upcoming event is planned for Dallas, Texas, with another new B.A.R. event coming to Melbourne, Australia. Scroll down for full event details if you’re interested in attending! We encourage you to RSVP as soon as possible so the event coordinators and properly plan their activities.Thank you again for your patience, feedback, and ongoing support. We’re excited to kick off the Sim Update 5 Public Beta and can’t wait to hear what you think. See you in the skies.Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapA few months ago, we had a request for non-English speakers to assist with ATC language localizations. Thanks to the community’s assistance, we’ve improved ATC language quality for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and made changes to non-English languages in Sim Update 4. We’ve also resolved a handful of key issues based on your feedback. We are once again asking for more language localization assistance from players. If you’re a native speaker of any of the languages listed below and would like to help improve non-English ATC in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, please complete the form at this link.
  • Chinese
  • Dutch
  • French
  • Finnish
  • German
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Norwegian (Bokmål)
  • Polish
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Portuguese (Portugal)
  • Russian
  • Spanish (Mexico)
  • Spanish (Spain)
  • Swedish
  • Turkish
In Sim Update 5 news, the development team is continuing to polish the first pre-release test build, and the public beta is targeted to begin this month. We’re excited about the many upcoming bug fixes and other improvements in SU5 and are eager to get the first beta build into the hands of volunteer community testers for your feedback and bug reports!Please note that for this week’s Marketplace releases, the team encountered an issue and were unable to publish some items for MSFS (2020) and MSFS 2024. We are working to resolve the issue now and will release the delayed products as quickly as possible. We will update this post as soon as the products are available. Thank you for your patience while we work through this issue!Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapWe had several new releases this week!First up, there is a new beta build (1.39.12.0) available for MSFS (2020) players. This is a relatively small update which resolves a few stability/crash issues. You can find the full release notes and instructions on how you can manually opt into the beta test at this link.Next, we released Famous Flyer 13: Northrop T-38A Talon. This aircraft was previously available as a pre-order bonus for PlayStation 5 users, but it's now available on all platforms from the in-sim Marketplace. Read more about this supersonic military jet trainer here and watch the trailer below!Finally, the latest City Update launched yesterday on January 28. City Update 13: California enhances the scenery for several cities in the Golden State. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere where it's currently winter, what better way to escape the snow and cold than with a flight to sunny California? Check out the trailer here:Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapWe released two small updates this week. The first is a stability patch for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PS5 only which resolves a few crash issues specific to the PlayStation platform. The second is the monthly navdata update (AIRAC cycle 2601) for both MSFS (2020) and MSFS 2024 on all platforms. You can read the full details for these updates at the links below:Are you looking for somewhere to fly this week? We’ve added a new “Weekly Flight Inspiration” section to this blog found under the Community header! This will be a recurring section where the Community Team will suggest somewhere in the world to visit every week based on a real-world holiday, a historic aviation anniversary, or an important global event.Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapWelcome back to another Weekly Briefing! As we announced last week, the team remains hard at work on Sim Update 5 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. We are targeting the public beta to begin soon. As always, keep an eye on our official forums for details about how to join the beta once it’s available.For PlayStation 5 simmers, some players from the community have recently created a new subreddit specifically for PS5 MSFS users. Some players in this subreddit have also started organizing group flights specifically for PS5 simmers! If you’re a Reddit user and would like to converse with other PS5 players, you can find this new subreddit at r/MSFlightSimulatorPS5.A reminder that registration for the upcoming Bravo Alpha Romeo (B.A.R.) event this weekend in the Netherlands is now open! See the Community section below for more details. Additionally, another community member from Texas has posted a “save the date” announcement for a B.A.R. event in Dallas on February 21 at the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum. We’ll have more details about the Dallas event in a future Weekly Update! If you would like to get involved in organizing your own B.A.R. event in your local area, join the Discord server to see how you can get involved in creating a meet-up with fellow flight sim enthusiasts!Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Weekly RecapHappy new year 2026! We hope everyone had a safe, relaxing, and joyous holiday period, and we’re thrilled to kick off a new year of flight simming with you! We’ve got plenty of exciting things planned for 2026, with Sim Update 5 being first on the list. The SU5 public beta is targeted to begin in the coming weeks, so keep watching this space for more information if you’d like to join and help test the next major update to MSFS 2024!In case you missed it, our final livestream of 2025 was hosting an event in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024‘s new Red Bull Air Race mode featuring MSFS Community Managers Chewwy94 and SeedyL in competition against some of your favorite flight sim personalities from Twitch and YouTube including AvAngel, Grizzle, Jeff Favignano, Twotonemurphy, and Ultrasaurus. The races featured intense competition, skilled piloting, hilarious commentary (particularly from Murph during his runs), and of course some good-natured trash talk amongst the racers. If you were unable to catch it live, you can watch the full video from the event on our official Twitch channel here.Finally, if you’re new to Microsoft Flight Simulator following last month’s PlayStation 5 release or perhaps you recently received the sim as a gift, be sure to follow our official accounts on your preferred social network(s) to keep up with the latest MSFS news. You can find us at these links:Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
Enjoy discounted pricing during our Microsoft Flight Simulator Holiday Sale! For 20 Days starting on December 18th, save up to 81% on more than 800 items. To purchase these discounted items, visit the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace, scroll down to ‘Special Offers’, then select ‘See All’ and look for the savings.
Weekly RecapIt’s been a huge week for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024! Following last week’s Early Access release for PlayStation 5 for those players who pre-ordered the Deluxe, Premium Deluxe, or Aviator Editions, we kicked things off with the full release for the Standard Edition on PS5. MSFS 2024 is now available to all PS5 and PS5 Pro players in all regions. We want to give a huge WELCOME to all the new PlayStation 5 simmers exploring the virtual skies of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024! If you have not yet discovered the Flight Planner website, it has now been updated to support logins from both Xbox and PlayStation Network accounts. This is an incredibly powerful tool that lets you plan your flights from a PC, laptop, tablet, or other device and then import them directly into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 using the in-sim EFB. Check it out!Next up, we launched Sim Update 4 (1.6.32.0) on PC and Xbox on December 8. This is a massive update which includes thousands of bug fixes and other improvements. We then released a smaller patch on Wednesday to update all platforms (PC, Xbox, and PS5) to version 1.6.33.0. You can find the full release notes for SU4 at the below links:SU4 also launched with two exciting new features: the thrilling Red Bull Air Race mode and a new plane that is FREE for all players, the supersonic Boom XB-1. To learn more about this innovative new aircraft, the first American-built civilian plane to break the sound barrier, watch our new Boom Supersonic Partnership Series video below:Last but certainly not least, on December 9 we released the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Stranger Things Expansion. Claim this DLC package for FREE from the in-sim Marketplace and then complete a helicopter training session, join a crew led by Murray Bauman to fly five hair-raising missions set in the world of the popular Netflix series, or embark as a pilot for Hawkins Heli-Tours and explore the show’s setting of Hawkins, Indiana.This expansion also includes a new aircraft that can be flown in both the Stranger Things experiences and in Free Flight mode, the legendary Bell UH-1H Huey from developer Taog’s Hangar. Claim the Stranger Things Expansion for FREE from the in-sim Marketplace now!This will be our final Weekly Briefing of 2025, but we will publish a Marketplace Update next week on December 18. We wish everyone a safe and peaceful holiday season, and we’ll see you again in 2026!Click here to continue reading the rest of the Weekly Briefing!
In a twist straight from the Upside Down, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Netflix today released a Stranger Things Expansion featuring:
  • 5 intense, demanding, and thrilling missions led by your guide, Murray Bauman, from the original cast, and his team.
  • A digital twin map of Hawkins, Indiana that will live on long after you’ve watched the last episode of Stranger Things.
  • Brand new Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter to complete the missions and explore the town featuring a unique livery.
  • Custom costumes for your avatar.
  • 40 iconic points of interest made famous by the show.
Come see the excitement for yourself in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Stranger Things expansion available today on all platforms and watch Stranger Things Season 5 only on Netflix. The sky is calling!
RELEASE NOTES Sim Update 4 - Release - 1.6.32.0If you are playing on PC, outdated packages in your community folder may have an unexpected impact on the title’s performance and behavior.

If you suffer from stability issues or long loading times, move your community package(s) to another folder before relaunching the title. Click here to read the Sim Update 4 Release Notes!
Weekly Recap Sim Update 4 is getting very close to release on your platforms! Our goal is for the full release to launch next week, but as always this is a target, not a locked-in promise, and the release timing could possibly change. We follow the feedback from beta testers on our forums very closely, so be sure to vote in our beta surveys, submit bug reports, and leave comments if you are participating in the pre-release test!The release notes for the current beta build (1.6.31.0) can be found at the link below:Finally, we released updated versions of several first party aircraft for MSFS (2020) and/or MSFS 2024 today. You can find the release notes for each of these aircraft in this forum topic. The updated aircraft are:
  • Dornier Do J “Wal”
  • Dornier Do X
  • Focke Wulff FW200 Condor
  • Fokker F.VII
  • Grumman HU-16 Albatross
  • Junkers F13
  • Junkers Ju-52
  • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2
  • Savoia-Marchetti S.55 / S.55X
  • Waco CG-4A
We hope you enjoy reading this Weekly Briefing, the first edition of our newly re-vamped blog post! We’ll see you again next week when things in Microsoft Flight Simulator get turned Upside Down. 👀Click here to continue reading the Weekly Briefing!