Last week we released Sim Update 3 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. In case you missed it, the full release notes for SU3 are available at this link[www.flightsimulator.com]. Also, if you have not yet done so, please be sure to vote in our SU3 surveys on our forums here[forums.flightsimulator.com]. Your feedback is of great assistance to us!

Work continues on MSFS 2024, with the team preparing to start the public beta test for Sim Update 4 soon. Please watch this space for more information about how to join the beta once it begins!

Finally, several members of the MSFS team were present at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany last week. In addition to announcing City Update 12[www.flightsimulator.com] and Local Legend 21[www.flightsimulator.com], the team also had an opportunity to meet some simmers from our player community for a flight sim social event. It’s always a delight for us to interact with flight sim fans and discuss our hobby together!

Click here to continue reading the Development Update![www.flightsimulator.com]

This was a big week for new releases for MSFS fans!

First, we released Sim Update 3 (version 1.5.27.0) for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This update contains thousands of bug fixes and other improvements, as well as the ability to download more content to one's local storage drive, a feature that was highly requested from the community. You can read the full release notes for SU3 at this link[www.flightsimulator.com]. Please be sure to vote in our SU3 surveys and leave feedback for the developers on our forums here[forums.flightsimulator.com].

We followed up the release of Sim Update 3 with City Update 12 and Local Legend 21! CU12 enhances six cities in Germany: Augsburg, Bremen, Dresden, Leuben, Leipzig, Kiel, and Münster. You can read more about this update here[www.flightsimulator.com]. As with all City Updates and World Updates, you can claim it for FREE from the in-sim Marketplace for both Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

Local Legend 21 is the Eurocopter EC135, one of the world's most advanced light utility helicopters! This is the fourth and final "make good" aircraft granted FREE to all MSFS 2024 players as our way of thanking you for your patience with the issues encountered during last November's launch. You can read more about the EC135 here[www.flightsimulator.com].

- MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update![www.flightsimulator.com]

If 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.

New Content and Features

• Added filters in controls settings menu

• Added loading spinner when aircraft are loading

• Do not display Helipad/port markers when flying a plane

• Reworked character / fauna / airport graphic settings for more coherence between platforms

• Added ForceFlare parameter to LightAttributes section of FX files

• Added fade in on images for Marketplace item, Profile, Briefing, Activities, HQ, Home, Career, Challenges, Controls, Install, Red Bull

• It is now possible to click and drag on all the sliders of the game

Click here to continue reading the Sim Update 3 Release Notes! [www.flightsimulator.com]

The ongoing beta test for MSFS 2024 Sim Update 3 continues with two new pre-release builds this week. In case you missed it, you can see the release notes for each of these test builds here:

• Sim Update 3 Beta (1.5.24.0) Release Notes – August 11th, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

  • Sim Update 3 Beta (1.5.25.0) Release Notes – August 13th, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

Earlier this week, we opened a survey in partnership with Xbox Research to solicit player feedback about the in-sim Marketplace. If you would like to share your opinions about the Marketplace with the development team, you can participate in the survey at this link[survey.alchemer.com]. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us as the team looks to make future improvements to the Marketplace experience. Thank you to all who complete the survey!

As mentioned in the weekly Development Blog a few weeks ago, Microsoft Flight Simulator will be at Gamescom[www.gamescom.global] again this year in Cologne, Germany! If you are attending the event, please stop by our booth and say hello to members of the MSFS team. We always love meeting and chatting with our players and fans!

To coincide with Gamescom, next week we will be releasing both City Update 12 and Local Legend 21! We’re excited to share more information about both of these updates with you in the coming days!

Our efforts to backport selected aircraft from MSFS 2024 to MSFS (2020) continues. This week, three additional planes from MSFS 2024 are now available in the MSFS (2020) Marketplace: the Air Tractor AT-802, Pipistrel Taurus M, and Powrachute Sky Rascal.

Last but certainly not least, August 18 is the five-year anniversary of the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) on PC! To celebrate, we’re asking the community to participate in our 5×5 event: for the fifth anniversary of MSFS, share your top five favorite things from the past year: they can be your best screenshots, your most memorable flights, your top five aircraft, your favorite third party add-on developers, and more! See this forum thread[forums.flightsimulator.com] for more information and to share your personal MSFS 5×5!

– MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update![www.flightsimulator.com]

On Tuesday, Sim Update 16 for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) saw its full release. This update includes improvements to stability and performance to aircraft, avionics, and more! Click here to read the full release notes.[www.flightsimulator.com] We are also carefully monitoring player feedback regarding this update. We encourage all players to vote in our surveys here and leave a comment on our forums[forums.flightsimulator.com] about your experience with SU16.

Public beta testing for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 3 remains ongoing. Yesterday, we released a new test build to those enrolled in the beta. You can see the release notes here:

• Sim Update 3 Beta (1.5.23.0) Release Notes – August 6th, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

Also this week, we released the latest monthly navigation data update (AIRAC cycle 2508) to players on all platforms. This update will be installed automatically the next time you launch the sim.

Finally, there is currently an airport sale ongoing in both the MSFS (2020) and MSFS 2024 Marketplaces! You can save up to 72% on some of the top-rated airports as voted by the community. See this page[www.flightsimulator.com] for a list of all the airports that currently have discounted pricing.

– MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update![www.flightsimulator.com]

Enjoy discounted pricing during our Top-Rated Airport Sale!

For 7 Days starting on August 5th, save up to 72% on the following items:

To purchase these discounted items, visit the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace on MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024, scroll down to the Top-Rated Airport Sale row, then select ‘See All’ and look for the savings. 

Public beta testing for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) Sim Update 16 continues. Earlier this week, we submitted a new pre-release build for SU3 to volunteer community testers. You can read the release notes below:

• Sim Update 3 Beta (1.5.21.0) Release Notes – July 30th, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

As part of SU3, the team has been working on improvements to ATC localization for non-English languages. For any non-English speakers participating in the SU3 beta, please complete the short survey at this link[forms.office.com] to share your feedback about the ATC updates with the development team. Your responses make a huge difference in our improvement efforts!

Next month some members of the team will be in Cologne, Germany to attend Gamescom[news.xbox.com], the largest video game industry show in Europe. Microsoft Flight Simulator players can look forward to an exciting city update, a brand-new aircraft that many fans will recognize for use in the sim, and exciting and unique challenges for players to test their piloting skills.

Just as we did last year, we are once again hosting a small in-person Microsoft Flight Simulator Community event in Cologne, Germany on the evening of August 23rd. This free event is a causal mixer between fans of MSFS and includes a buffet-style meal, drinks, and is meant for those who are 18+ in age. There is no presentation or exclusive information being presented at this event. You do not need a ticket to Gamescom to attend this event. Anyone wishing to attend can express interest by completing this web form[forms.cloud.microsoft].

Attendees at last year’s Gamescom MSFS Community event.

– MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update![www.flightsimulator.com]

Yesterday, we hosted our latest Developer Livestream on our official Twitch channel[twitch.tv]. Our usual panel of Jorg, Seb, and Martial answered many questions from the community about both Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and then welcomed Marwan Gharib from FlightFX to demo their newly-released aircraft, the Cessna Citation X, the first in our Marketplace Exclusive Series[www.flightsimulator.com]. If you missed it live, you can watch the replay on YouTube below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA_b1BX60kw

Also this week, we released three new test builds to those participating in the public beta for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) Sim Update 16. You can read the release notes  for both below:

• Sim Update 3 Beta (1.5.18.0) Release Notes – July 18th, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

• Sim Update 3 Beta (1.5.19.0) Release Notes – July 23rd, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

• Sim Update 16 Beta \[1.39.9.0] Release Notes – July 22nd, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

The development team has been very closely monitoring the feedback submitted by players in the beta forums and reviewing the telemetry data we receive from testers. Thank you to everyone who has opted in to the beta, shared feedback and bug reports on our forums[forums.flightsimulator.com] and voted in the SU3[forums.flightsimulator.com] and SU16[forums.flightsimulator.com] beta player surveys.

Finally, you may have noticed that we recently started posting on Bluesky[bsky.app]! You can now keep up with the latest MSFS news on your social platform of choice:

• Bluesky[bsky.app]

• Facebook[www.facebook.com]

• Threads[www.threads.com]

• X (formerly Twitter)[x.com]

Additionally, we also post short video content to Instagram[www.instagram.com] and TikTok[www.tiktok.com]. Be sure to follow @msfsofficial on all your preferred social networks!

– MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update![www.flightsimulator.com]

Since our last update, the public betas for both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) Sim Update 16 have both received new pre-release test builds. Each of these builds was relatively small and contained few changes, but you can find the release notes below:

• Sim Update 3 Beta (1.5.17.0) Release Notes – July 16th, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

• Sim Update 16 Beta \[1.39.8.0] Release Notes – July 15th, 2025[forums.flightsimulator.com]

As announced last week, several aircraft from the Deluxe and Premium Deluxe Editions of MSFS 2024 are now available to rent from the in-sim Marketplace. If you decide you like the aircraft after renting it and wish to buy it, you will receive a discount on the full purchase price! This week, three new planes are now available to rent:

• Dornier Seawing Seastar

• Pilatus PC-24

• Zlin Aviation Savage Norden

As a reminder, our next Developer Livestream is next Wednesday, July 23, 2025 starting at 10:30am PDT (1730 UTC). You can watch our panel of Jorg, Seb, and Martial respond to questions from the community, discuss the upcoming development roadmap, and reveal other changes coming to the sim live on our official Twitch channel[twitch.tv]. If you’re not able to watch the broadcast in real-time, we’ll also upload the VOD to our YouTube channel afterward.

– MSFS Team

Click here to continue reading the Development Update![www.flightsimulator.com]