Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC, Xbox, Game Pass)

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BECOME A TOP GUN PILOT IN FREE EXPANSION AVAILABLE TODAY

We are thrilled to announce that, today Microsoft Flight Simulator released the long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” expansion. Develop the skills required and navigate the complexities encountered by actual Top Gun pilots in authentic locations including the most challenging landing – on an aircraft carrier. This offering will push your piloting abilities to the limits—and beyond.

The “Top Gun: Maverick” expansion contains:

A “Top Gun: Maverick Edition” livery for the F/A-18E Super Hornet.
Three training missions for the Super Hornet that will allow you to master radical flight maneuvers including unrestricted take-offs, split S maneuvers, and low altitude, high-speed maneuvering through complex terrain.
Five high-speed, low-level challenges that require utmost skill to navigate just above mountains and traverse through canyons.
A carrier deck landing challenge, one of the most demanding operations in the world of military aviation.
A never-before-unveiled hypersonic aircraft that can attain speeds of Mach 10 and altitudes greater than 150,000 feet above sea level.
A mission to roar into the stratosphere.

Enjoy this free update!

Announced today! Microsoft's longest running franchise celebrates its 40th Anniversary with an expanded edition, coming November 2022.

Also, in partnership with Halo and 343 Industries, an exclusive Halo Infinite Pelican is available today in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This free add-on is included with Xbox Game Pass - get it now!

For the 40th Anniversary Edition releasing this fall, the Microsoft Flight Simulator team is partnering with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Stay tuned in the coming months for more to come regarding this coveted partnership and enhanced Anniversary Edition.

LewisD wrote:Any sign of helicopters soon?

Watch as Sebastian Wloch, Benjamin Rieubland, Sacha Wittorski, and François Rembry from Asobo Studio talk about the work we have done on helicopters, including the Guimbal Cabri G2, to prepare for the 40th Anniversary Edition!

Watch as François Rembry, Benjamin Rieubland, and Robin Cugniet from Asobo talk about the work we have done on Gliders to prepare for the 40th Anniversary Edition!

Coming 2024 - the next generation of the legendary franchise. Join the aviation adventure in a groundbreaking simulator developed for Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Announced today! In partnership with Legendary and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Microsoft Flight Simulator has created an authentically detailed House Atreides Ornithopter. Master the complex controls of one of the most dynamic aircraft ever conceived as you pilot your ornithopter through awe-inspiring locations across the mysterious desert planet of Arrakis.

See Dune: Part Two in theaters and play the expansion November 3, 2023.

Pursue your dream of an aviation career with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This brand-new simulator is designed to take advantage of the latest technologies in simulation, cloud, machine learning, graphics and gaming to create the most sophisticated, immersive and awe-inspiring flight simulator of all time. To achieve this unprecedented level of accuracy, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is powered by the significantly evolved Asobo Studio engine.

Available day one on Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows 10/11, and Steam. Coming 2024.

Will Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 be a completely standalone sequel, or will it also be offered as a paid update for existing players?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a standalone simulator and the next-generation sequel to Microsoft Flight Simulator that launched in 2020. Current aircraft and airports that are in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), as well as virtually all Marketplace add-ons, will be supported in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

What kind of support can Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) players expect to see once Flight Simulator 2024 has been released?

We will continue to deliver our Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) Roadmap which has content ranging from Aircraft and Avionics Updates, Sim Updates, City and World Updates, and also the free Dune DLC. We will continue to support Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) post the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launch.

Will all purchases users have made from the Marketplace be transferrable to the new simulator?

With very few exceptions, virtually all add-ons that work in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) today will function in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Add-ons that were purchased from the in-simulator Marketplace will not need to be re-purchased in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

MSFS presentation at FlightSimExpo, highlighting new features w.r.t. key focus aspects and growth of the game.

Asobo has grown quite a lot

Allowing players to choose a pilot lifestyle, with a very grounded simulation enviroment; "We're not a game, so we're not making gamey-type missions at all, we're doing this accurate aviation activities. Working with many organizations that do Fire-fighting, that do search and rescue""

Creating a thinner client;
Only download what is needed/cached on the hdd.
Reduced footpring on HDD & internet usage
Reduced installation & loading times
This helps keep the min spec low
Backwards compatible, community folder still there

New physics & Aerodynamics Engine
Give aircraft creaters EXTREMEEEE control
Massive performance improvements: the engine has been rewritten for performance improvements, Multithreading, thus on a different core away from the main (frame). (So it looks like they removed the deadlocking bottlenecks in the engine and thus can decouple and parallelize it over multiple threads, big! The examples they show are big, the simulation fidelity just keeps going to a higher ceiling ).
Rigid & Soft bodies (e.g. some examples shown w.r.t. Balloon physics).
Tissues & ropes
Easy authoring & backwards compatible

New & improved systems
Electrical, pneumatic, fuel, hydraulic systems
Failure and Wear & tear system
Payload & passenger system
Deeper & wider avionics packages
Cockpit tablet by default

Digital Twin (You're going to hear this term in the gaming industry a lot more in the coming years :p)
Example shown for low altitude training; Showing more accurate surfaces detected through ML. Adding more details such as 3D trees, 3D rocks with proper surface details/detail map and tessellation (so no flat enviroments hehe :p)
Our planet - static world: Improved ground details, 3D tesselated ground materials, enhance tree diversity, improved cliffs
Our planet - dyanmic world: Full seasons, Aurora borealis, tornados, storms
Our planet - living world: animal herds & migrations, worldwide ship traffic, accurate live air traffic, improved vehicle traffic

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