Microsoft just shared new details about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and MSFS 2020, including plans for future updates and upcoming free and paid content.
During a livestream on Twitch, we heard, as usual, from Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann, Asobo CEO Sebastian Wloch, and Executive Producer Martial Bossard.
We hear from Neumann that since the previous developer livestream at the end of July, over 500,000 new users have tried the MSSFS 2024 and MSFS 2020.
Funnily, he also gave yours truly a shoutout for suggesting the NAMC YS-11 a few years ago, and I’m certainly stoked about being able to fly it in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
We start with information about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, and specifically, a roadmap. The older simulator will continue to be supported with a Sim Update once a year.
The next full sim update will be 17, sometime in the summer of 2026. The developers are looking at elements that can be backported from MSFS 2024.
That being said, there will be a 16.1 at some point before 17 to correct relevant issues.
City and World Updates will come at the same time as MSFS 2024.
On top of that, below we see the aircraft included in MSFS 2024. The ones without a checkmark are those that are not included in MSFS 2020 at the moment. Microsoft will try to port as many as possible of them to 2020, although it won’t be possible for all.
When it’s possible, Microsoft also wants to make an MSFS 2020 version of new first-party planes, as it was done with the NAMC.
Neumann also mentioned that there are definitely more players in 2024 at the moment than in 2020, and the gap is growing, but there is still a substantial number flying on MSFS2020. The recent Steam sale brought new simmers into the older simulator due to the lower price.
Next, we move on to the updated feedback snapshot for MSFS 2024. VRAM consumption will see significant changes in Sim Update 4 and 6.
As usual, we also take a look at the wishlist, which will mostly be worked on next year, since this year was focused on fixing bugs and issues.
We then hear that in Sim Update 4, there will be better parallelization of the user aircraft simulation, improving multithreading and, as such, performance and frame rate.
Optimization work has also been done on the CPU cache. This has been done for approximately 20 different systems, and they run 2-to-3 times faster.
Further optimizations include:
- Reduction of Number of Allocations:
- Grouping of allocations
- Doing temp allocations on the stack
- Keeping temp allocations around for later usage
- Optimization of the Number of Ground Baking Textures processed
- Moved more Processing (such as file processing) from the Main Thread to Parallel Threads.
- Optimized the Animation System Scheduling
- Optimized the Human Simulation
The National Championship Air Races (which used to be Reno Air Races) will return next year. Red Bull Racing will come with Sim Update 4. Bush trips should return next year as well.
We get to see an interesting video showcasing improvements made to night lighting in Sim Update 4. It’ll be much higher resolution when seen from a distance. Since it’s enormous, it’ll be streamed from the cloud.
You can see the recording of the video below, alongside the T-34 Talon segment mentioned below.
This means that the lights will look the same seen from close by and from far away without jarring transitions. Speaking of night lighting, issues with the lighting of points of interest will be solved progressively.
Work on the atmosphere and clouds will be done in a further sim update, following the order of the wishlist.
Investigation into stuttering on landing and when moving the camera at airports is ongoing. Two optimizations are included in Sim Update 4, which should improve the situation.
Sim Update 4 is bringing plenty of aircraft-specific updates. It’s a “huge push” on aircraft. The team hopes to also update the Antonov An-225 if it’s stable.
The ATR is being made native to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, including new liveries and variants, including the HighLine.
The developers are also working to make sure that all the aircraft in the Aviator Edition at least work correctly.
We heard that the Northrop T-38A Talon, which will be a free bonus for those who pre-order the PS5 version, will be available for everyone else in the marketplace as Famous Flyer 13. It’s developed by Blackbird Simulations.
We also get to see it in action, and you can enjoy it in the video above.
Moving on to the career mode, heavy and super-heavy cargo missions are coming, and the plan is to release them with Sim Update 4.
We also hear about the PS5 version. Unfortunately, there won’t be cross-play in multiplayer between it and the PC and Xbox versions. This is because the PS5 version does not log into the Xbox authentication servers.
We also hear that it’ll launch with Sim Update 4 included.
If you’re looking for a HOTAS (stick and throttle lever combo), the Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS 4 will be fully supported at launch.
The marketplace will at first launch with first-party add-ons, and then third-party add-ons will be added, likely in the spring. The pricing of first-party add-ons will be the same as the existing platforms.
It’s a totally separate product, so marketplace purchases made on PC and Xbox won’t transfer to PS5.
Next is the reveal of the Famous Flyer 14, and it’s the Boom XB-1 technology demonstrator developed by FlightFX and Working Title. It can reach Mach 1.4 and lands “very hot” due to the lack of flaps.
You actually have to land the aircraft 12 degrees nose up, but there’s a camera showing what’s in front of the nose.
It’ll include the implementation of the Avidyne IFD 550 and 450 avionics packages, which will be available to third-party developers from Sim Update 5.
Despite the fact that usually Famous Flyers are payware, the Boom XB-1 will actually be free.
We also hear a bit about the Embraer 600 Praetor; it’ll come at some point next year. The art is pretty much done, and work on the systems is progressing.
Interestingly, we get to take a look at the roadmap, and one more surprise that was not previously announced. While we don’t get to hear what it is about today, Neumann revealed that it will come out in December.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is available for PC and Xbox Series X|S. It’ll be released for PS5 on December 8, 2025.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is also available for PC and Xbox Series X|S. If you’d like to learn more, you can check out our recent interview with Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann.
If you’d like to read more flight simulation news, you can find plenty in our latest daily roundup article from yesterday.
If you want to go further back, we have a handy overview video of the major flight simulation news in the past week. You can watch it below. As usual, leaving a like and a comment and subscribing to our growing YouTube channel is extremely helpful.
