Microsoft Flight Simulator is specifically designed to celebrate flight simulation fans through a focus on the authenticity of flying and visually stunning environments.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is the next generation of one of the most beloved simulation franchises. From light planes to wide-body jets, fly highly detailed and stunning aircraft in an incredibly realistic world. Create your flight plan and fly anywhere on the planet. Enjoy flying day or night and face realistic, challenging weather conditions.

By revamping our tech, working in close collaboration with the community and pursuing the best partnerships across the industry, we intend to deliver the best-in-class flight simulation experience.

World Update VI

Our latest World Update celebrates the region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. New aerial imagery, high-resolution elevation maps and several brand-new 3D cities in Germany, Basel in Switzerland, Graz and Vienna in Austria are drastically enhancing the visuals of these three countries and the beautiful mountain-ranges of the Alps. The team has also hand-crafted about 100 famous locations (points of interest, or POIs) and several airports like Lübeck, Stuttgart, Klagenfurt and St. Gallen. The update also includes new discovery flights, landing challenges and bush trips that take simmers across this beautiful region of our planet.

World Update VI will be available for download in the in-sim marketplace free-of-charge on September 7th.

Local Legend I: Junkers JU-52

The team is also proud to announce a new series of releases called “Local Legends” that will frequently coincide with World Updates. These aircrafts are famous in the region of the world update, but often are not as well known to a worldwide audience. For World Update VI, we chose a famous German plane from 1930 called the Junkers JU-52.

In Germany, the Junkers JU-52 is lovingly called “Tante JU” or “Aunt JU.” The team has gone to great lengths to recreate the plane as authentically and accurately as possible. We scanned the entire plane with a high-resolution digital scanner to achieve an extremely high level of detail and accuracy. We were fortunate to have the support of Bernd Junkers, the grandson of the original designer, Hugo Junkers, and also worked with an organization that preserves one of the last surviving examples of this famous plane. To ensure complete accuracy, we consulted with one of the few pilots who flew one of the last Junkers JU-52.

The Junkers JU-52 will be available in the simulator on September 7th for $14.99.

Volocopter

While the “Local Legends” series celebrates the history of aviation, Microsoft Flight Simulator is also working with organizations around the world that are shaping the future of aviation. We have partnered with Volocopter, a fascinating German company creating one of the most exciting new aircraft in the world, an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing)  air taxi for urban flights called “VoloCity”. In collaboration with the team at Volocopter, we are integrating their electric air taxis and incorporating Volocopter’s vision for urban air mobility city operations into Microsoft Flight Simulator. The VoloCity air taxi represents our first step toward the introduction of one of the widely-requested aircraft – helicopters!

The VoloCity air taxi will release in November of this year.

Reno Air Races

Finally, we are excited to announce our partnership with RARA (the Reno Air Racing Association) to bring the famous STIHL National Championship Air Races, the world’s fastest motorsport, to Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Many of the planes can fly up to 500 mph at an altitude between 50 ft and 250 ft above ground. The Reno Air Races represent the first major expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Simmers will now be able to race against their friends or pilots from around the world with the addition of competitive multiplayer to the sim.

The Reno Air Races expansion pack will be available this Fall.

Key Features:

• Vivid and Detailed Landscapes – Immerse yourself in the vast and beautiful world that is our planet with more than 37 thousand airports, 1.5 billion buildings, 2 trillion trees, mountains, roads, rivers and more.
• A Living World – Earth is vibrant and ever-changing and so is the world of Microsoft Flight Simulator which includes live traffic, real-time weather and animals.  
• Highly Detailed Aircraft – Hone your pilot skills in a variety of aircraft from light planes to commercial jets with comprehensive flight models. Every aircraft includes highly detailed and accurate cockpits with realistic instrumentation.
• New Checklist System – From pro to beginner, scale your level from full manual to full assist with interactive and highlighted instrument guidance and checklist.
• Dynamic Weather – The new weather engine enables users to switch on the live weather mode to experience real-time weather including accurate wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, rain and more.
• New Day & Night Engine – Experience flight at any time of day or year allowing for night VFR, visual flight rules, navigation.
• Aerodynamic Modeling – A state-of-the-art physics engine with over 1,000 control surfaces per plane allows for a truly realistic experience.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is available for PC (Xbox Game Pass), and it will launch on the Xbox Series X|S on July 27, 2021.