The announcement of the PS5 version of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 wasn’t the only Tokyo Game Show surprise Microsoft and Asobo had in store for virtual pilots. World Update 20: Japan and the NAMC YS-11 have been announced for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
They’re both releasing today, and as usual, the World Update will be free for all users of both simulators.
It’s one of the largest World Updates ever made, and it includes massive photogrammetry packages of the major cities in Japan.
Tokyo is truly gigantic, with 16 Areas of Interest covering the entire metropolitan area, including surrounding cities like Chiba, Yokohama, and more. Osaka follows with 3 AoIs, Sapporo gets 2, while Hiroshima and Kyoto get one each.
67 bespoke points of interest have also been included, portraying Japan’s most famous monuments.
We also get five airports and airfields, including Kitakyushu Airport (RJFR), Hokkaido Spaceport (JP-0052), Rishiri Airport (RJER), Sado Airport (RJSD), and Satsuma Iōjima Airport (RJX7).
Lastly, we get the usual complement of missions and challenges to encourage us to explore Japan.
Considering that Japan was the first World Update, things have finally gone full circle.
Moving on to paid content, we get the new Local Legend (numbered 22). It’s the legendary NAMC YS-11,
It’s a really neat regional airliner that could. Designed by a consortium of Japanese companies (NAMC stands for Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation), it’s the only commercial airliner designed and manufactured entirely in Japan after World War II.
It flew extensively for both local civilian airlines and the military, and was also utilized for Coast Guard Duties. It also saw some success as an export aircraft, embraced by operators in several countries.
It’s available now on the official Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020 Marketplaces for $19.99, and there are also rental options available.
Before I leave you to the trailer, I have a small story for you. Remember that in our latest interview, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann mentioned that I played a role in the content Microsoft had in store for Tokyo Game Show?
Years ago, I interviewed Jorg at Gamescom for my previous workplace, and since Tokyo Game Show was coming up, I told him, “Hey, if you really want to make the Japanese flight simulation community happy, you should make the NAMC YS-11.”
He was interested, so I explained briefly what it was and sent him the Wikipedia page. Imagine my surprise when, this year at Gamescom, he told me that the YS-11 was indeed coming. So that’s what he meant during the interview.
Now that you’ve heard my story, and you know how proud I am that the aircraft I suggested made it into the sim, you can enjoy the trailer in peace.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is already available for PC and Xbox Series X|S. It’s coming for PS5 on December 8, 2025.
If you’d like to read more flight simulation news, you can find plenty in our latest 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
